Plasma angiopoietin-1 level, left ventricular ejection fraction, and multivessel disease predict development of 1-year major adverse cardiovascular events in patients with acute ST elevation myocardial infarction - A pilot study

•Patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) are frequently complicated with major cardiovascular events (MACEs).•This prospective study demonstrates decreased plasma Ang-1 levels on admission and multivessel disease independently predicted the development of 1-year MACEs in patients with AMI.•Endothelial dysfunction may play an important role in mediating MACEs in patients with AMI.

ObjectivesPatients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) are frequently complicated with major cardiovascular events (MACEs). Endothelial dysfunction has been found to be involved in pathogenesis of AMI, but its role in development of MACEs after AMI is not clearly investigated. This study aimed to determine whether the plasma markers of endothelial dysfunction could serve as independent predictors for MACEs in patients with AMI.MethodsThis prospective study was conducted from March 2010 to July 2012 and enrolled consecutive 132 patients with acute ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) receiving primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Plasma levels of thrombomodulin (TM), von Willebrand factor (vWF), angiopoietin (Ang)-1, Ang-2, Tie-2, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were measured on day 1 of AMI. The development of MACEs at 1-year follow-up was recorded.ResultPatients with STEMI who developed MACEs had increased heart rate on admission (86 ± 24 vs. 74 ± 20 bpm, p = 0.006), lower left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (49.0 ± 12.4 vs. 57.2 ± 12.4%, p = 0.002), and higher incidence of multivessel disease (66.7% vs. 42.2%, p = 0.018) comparing with those without MACEs. Plasma level of Ang-1 was lower in patients with MACEs than in those without (21,165 ± 16,281 vs. 31,411 ± 21,593 pg/mL, p = 0.018). In multivariate analysis, Ang-1 level < median value (OR 2.977, 95% CI 1.16-7.63, p = 0.023), LVEF (OR 0.958, 95% CI 0.92-0.99, p = 0.022) and multivessel disease (OR 3.013, 95% CI 1.19-7.60, p = 0.019) independently predicted 1-year MACEs.ConclusionDecreased plasma Ang-1 levels on admission, LVEF and multivessel disease independently predicted the development of 1-year MACEs in patients with STEMI. These results suggest that endothelial dysfunction may play an important role in mediating MACEs in patients with STEMI.