Evaluation of Coronary Artery Calcification and Gremlin-1 Serum Level Correlation in Patients with Chronic Ischemic Heart Disease

Atefeh Rezapour; Saeed Nazemi; Fatemeh Mashhadi; Seyed Mohammad  Hassan Moallem; Mohammad Afshar; Sepideh Elyasi; Gholamreza VMohajeri Moghaddam; Azadeh Zaerzadeh; Amir Hooshang Mohammadpour

doi:10.18502/jpc.v9i2.6611

Atefeh Rezapour Department of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
Saeed Nazemi Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, Razavi Hospital, Mashhad, Iran.
Fatemeh Mashhadi Department of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Seyed Mohammad Hassan Moallem School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
Mohammad Afshar Department of Anatomy, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran.
Sepideh Elyasi Department of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
Gholamreza VMohajeri Moghaddam Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, Razavi Hospital, Mashhad, Iran.
Azadeh Zaerzadeh Department of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
Amir Hooshang Mohammadpour Department of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/jpc.v9i2.6611

Keywords: Vascular Calcification; Gremlin 1 Protein, Human; Smad Proteins

Abstract

Background: Available evidences have shown that bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), particularly BMP 2 and BMP 4, are involved in vascular calcification. Gremlin 1 is one of the important endogenous inhibitors of BMPs. This extracellular antagonist of bone morphogenic proteins has a very complex and cysteine-rich chain and establishes non-colonial transmissions to the members of the family with varying degrees of dependence and prevents them from binding to the receptor, thereby inhibit their function. The main objective of this study was clinical evaluation of the correlation between Gremlin-1 serum concentration and Coronary Artery Calcification.

Methods: Eighty-four patients with coronary artery disease from cardiology ward of Razavi Hospital, Mashhad, Iran, who completed the inclusion criteria, entered in the study between November 2015 and March 2016. CT-Angiography was performed to define coronary artery calcium score and Gremlin-1 serum concentrations were measured by an ELISA kit.

Results: Eighty-one patients, with mean age of 57.19±10.18 years were included to the study. The mean serum level of Gremlin-1 was 10.92±8.46 pg/mL. There was a reverse significant correlation between Gremlin-1 serum concentration and Coronary Artery Calcification of Right coronary artery(RCA) (P<0.05), in contrast to total Coronary Artery Calcification score, left artery Descending (LAD), Left Main (LM) and Circumflex (CX). However, there was no evidence that age and sex risk factor, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, positive family history, current smoking and high BMI to be associated with serum level of Gremlin-1.

Conclusion: Based on the results, Gremlin-1 serum concentration may be a suitable biomarker for predication coronary artery calcification severity. However, more researches on larger population are necessary for its validation.