INCREASED SERUM IGA LEVELS IN SUBJECTS WITH PREVIOUS MYOCARDIAL-INFARCTION OR OTHER MAJOR ISCHEMIC EVENTS

To ascertain whether the increase in serum IgA, which has been found t o be associated with the presence of severe atherosclerotic disease, p recedes or follows the occurrence of major ischemic events (MIE), we s tudied the serum levels of IgA as well as IgG and IgM in 145 subjects with acute or previous ischemic events and 34 controls. The subjects w ith previous myocardial infarction had higher IgA levels with respect to the controls, the patients with angina pectoris and those with acut e myocardial infarction, while no significant differences concerning I gG and IgM were found. In the subjects with previous extracoronary eve nts, immunoglobulin levels tended to be even higher. Overall, 30% of t he subjects with previous MIE and only 3% of the controls had IgA leve ls over 4.5 g/l (p = 0.0018). This study indicates that total serum Ig A is a marker of previous major ischemic events (protracted immune res ponse to denatured proteins?), rather than a factor predisposing to at herosclerosis development.