Leukocyte counts and concentrations of soluble adhesion molecules as predictors of coronary atherosclerosis

Background Authors of recent studies have reported that there is a relation ship between level of adhesion molecules and atherosclerosis, In an animal study it was demonstrated that there is an interaction between adhesion mol ecules and leukocytes in atherosclerotic tissue. Objective To study the relationships between coronary-artery atherosclerosi s and both differential blood-leukocyte count and concentrations of soluble adhesion molecules in patients with and without coronary artery disease (C AD), Methods Our subjects were 168 patients who underwent diagnostic coronary an giography, Forty-eight patients had normal coronary angiograms (control gro up), and 120 patients had significant coronary-artery stenoses (diameter st enosis > 70%) in at least one major coronary-artery branch (CAD group). Tot al and differential blood-leukocyte counts, and concentrations of soluble i ntercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molec ule-1 (sVCAM-1) were assayed prior to angiography, Results Monocyte counts for patients in the CAD group were significantly gr eater than those for patients in the control group (366 +/- 99 versus 258 /- 44/mu l, P < 0.0001), as were the sICAM-1 concentrations (272 +/- 52 ver sus 203 +/- 24 ng/ml, P < 0.0001), The mean concentrations of sVCAM-1 in me mbers of the two groups were the same (671 +/- 138 versus 668 +/- 97 ng/ml, P = 0.4), There was a higher incidence of significant coronary-artery sten osis among patients with both a high monocyte count and a high concentratio n of sICAM-1 (greater than or equal to mean + SD) than there was among pati ents with a low monocyte count and a low concentration of sICAM-1 (greater than or equal to mean - SD; 100 versus 25%, P < 0.0001), Conclusions Higher levels both of monocyte counts and of serum concentratio ns of ICAM-1 may serve as markers for coronary atherosclerosis, Coron Arter y Dis 11:445-449 (C) 2000 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.