Circulating adhesion molecules in patients with stable coronary artery disease

To evaluate platelet and endothelial function in patients with stable coron ary artery disease (CAD), we investigated levels of the plasma-soluble (s) adhesion molecules E-selectin (sE-selectin), P-selectin (sP-selectin), and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) in 74 patients (mean age, 53 +/ - 8 years) with angiographically documented coronary artery disease. Levels were compared to 27 matched healthy control subjects. Patients were exclud ed if they had recent cardiovascular events or any illness that might influ ence platelet and endothelial cell function. Concentrations of sP-selectin were significantly higher in patients with stable CAD (276 +/- 61 ng/mL) co mpared with control subjects (188 +/- 32 ng/mL) (P = .0001), whereas sE-sel ectin and sICAM-1 levels were similar between the 2 groups. Pooling both gr oups showed that sICAM-1 correlated weakly with triglycerides (r = 0.230, P = .01) and sP-selectin correlated weakly with low-density lipoprotein chol esterol (r = 0.204, P = .04). Although plasma sICAM-1 concentrations were s ignificantly increased in hypercholesterolemic patients compared with those of normocholesterolemic patients (P = .04), sP-selectin and sE-selectin le vels were similar between the 2 groups. In conclusion, significantly increa sed sP-selectin levels, indicating platelet activation, were found in patie nts with stable CAD. No other sign of endothelial cell activation in these patients could be detected. Moreover, sP-selectin levels seem to reflect th e activation of platelets rather than of endothelial cells. Int J Hematol. 2000;72:507-511. (C)2000 The Japanese Society of Hematology.