RESUMEN
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The etiopathogenesis of coronary artery ectasia (CAE) is not known completely. In most of the cases, CAE is associated with atherosclerosis; however, isolated CAE has a nonatherosclerotic mechanism. The association between atherosclerotic coronary artery disease and apelin has been examined in previous studies. However, the role of plasma apelin in isolated coronary artery ectasia has not been studied. In this study, we investigated the relationship between plasma apelin levels and isolated coronary artery ectasia. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The study population included a total of 54 patients. Twenty-six patients had isolated CAE (53.6+/-8.1 years); 28 patients with normal coronary arteries (51.6+/-8.8 years) and with similar risk factors and demographic characteristics served as the control group. Apelin levels were measured using an enzyme-linked immunoassay kit. RESULTS: Apelin level in the CAE group was significantly lower (apelin=0.181+/-0.159 ng/mL) than that in the control group (apelin=0.646+/-0.578 ng/mL) (p=0.033). Glucose, creatinine, total cholesterol, triglyceride, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, and high density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were not significantly different between the two groups. CONCLUSION: In this study, we showed that patients with isolated CAE have decreased plasma apelin levels compared with the control group. Based on the data, a relationship between plasma apelin and isolated CAE was determined.