ABSTRACT
Objective: To explore the relationship between plasma Jagged1 protein level and coronary collateral circulation (CCC) formation in patients with coronary artery disease(CAD). Methods: According to coronary angiography (CAG) examination, our research was categorized in 2 groups: CAD group, n=89 patients with at least one of left anterior descending (LAD), left circumflex(LCX) or right coronary artery(RCA) stenosis ≥ 95％ and Control group, n=30 subjects without abnormal findings by CAG. Based on Rentrop grading system, CAD group was further divided into 2 subgroups: Good CCC subgroup, n=42 patients with Rentrop grade ≥ 2 and Poor CCC subgroup, n=47 patients with Rentrop grade≤1. Plasma levels of Jagged1 protein,vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were measured by ELISA and the relevant correlation study was conducted by multivariate regression analysis. Results: Compared with Control group, CAD group had increased plasma levels of Jagged1 protein (38.74±10.60)ng/L vs (23.04±8.97)ng/L and elevated VEGF (113.98±30.80)pg/L vs (72.73±14.55)pg/L. Compared with Poor CCC subgroup, Good CCC subgroup presented increased Jagged1 protein (46.77±8.49)ng/L vs (31.56±6.26)ng/L and elevated VEGF (128.10±20.24) pg/L vs (92.43±21.09)pg/L. Correlation study showed that Jagged1 protein was positively related to VEGF in CAD patients (r=0.730, P<0.01); multivariate regression analysis indicated that Jagged1 protein (OR=1.318, P=0.000) and VEGF (OR=1.043, P=0.043) were the independent predictors for CCC processing.Conclusion: CAD patients with good CCC had the higher plasma Jagged1 protein level than the patients with poor CCC which implied that Jagged1 protein played important role in CCC processing, such finding may provide a new direction for treating CAD patients in clinical practice.