Vaspin plasma concentrations and mRNA expressions in patients with stable and unstable angina pectoris

Background: Vaspin was a recently identified adipokine, playing a protective role in many metabolic diseases. The present study aimed to investigate the association between vaspin plasma level and stable angina pectoris (SAP) and unstable angina pectoris (UAP). Methods: A total of 88 patients with angiographically-proved coronary artery disease (CAD) (SAP 47, UAP 41) and 103 control subjects without cardiovascular diseases were enrolled in this study. Circulating vaspin, mRNA expression of vaspin in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), clinical parameters, lipid profile and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) were assayed. The severity of CAD was also assessed according to the number of vessels diseased. Results: There are significant differences in circulating vaspin levels and mRNA levels of PBMC between SAP and UAP groups (SAP 0.91 +/- 0.95 ng/mL and UAP 0.43 +/- 0.38 ng/mL, p < 0.01 in circulating vaspin level; SAP 1.19 +/- 0.85 and UAP 0.82 +/- 0.56, p < 0.05 in mRNA level of PBMC). An inverse correlation between the number of diseased vessels and plasma vaspin concentration was observed (rs=-0.350, p < 0.01) in the CAD group. Construction of receiver operating characteristic curves confirmed that vaspin plasma concentrations significantly differentiated CAD patients (area under the curve=0.684, p < 0.001), as well as UAP (area under the curve=0.640, p < 0.05). Conclusion: Decreased vaspin plasma levels and mRNA levels in PBMC were observed in patients with UAP. Low vaspin concentrations correlate with CAD severity. The findings suggested that vaspin could serve as a novel biomarker of CAD as well as UAP.