Blood levels of inflammatory and destructive biomarkers in coronary atherosclerosis of different severity.

In male patients with coronary atherosclerosis without acute coronary syndrome, the levels of inflammatory-destructive biomarkers of atherosclerotic plaque instability depended on the severity and dissemination of coronary atherosclerosis. The highest levels of C-reactive protein and matrix metalloproteinase 3 were found in men with atherosclerotic involvement of all three main coronary arteries, primarily their middle and distal segments, and in men with predominance of low-grade stenoses (<50%) of coronary arteries in areas of atherosclerotic plaques.