Laboratory Medicine ›› 2016, Vol. 31 ›› Issue (12): 1021-1025.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-8640.2016.12.003

• Orginal Article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Plasma cell-free DNA as a biomarker for the diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome

CONG Hui1, JING Rongrong1, WANG Huimin1, WU Xiaohui2, CHU Haidan1, FAN Mengkang2, JU Shaoqin1   

  1. 1. Department of Clinical Laboratory,Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University,Nantong 226001,Jiangsu,China
    2. Department of Cardiology,Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University,Nantong 226001,Jiangsu,China
  • Received:2016-06-22 Online:2016-12-25 Published:2016-12-29

Abstract:

Objective To investigate the significance of plasma cell-free DNA(cfDNA) as a biomarker for the diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome(ACS) by choosing Alu as a target gene.Methods Blood specimens of 140 patients with ACS(ACS group) and 60 healthy subjects(healthy control group) were collected. A branched DNA(bDNA) assay based on Alu gene was used to determine the concentration of cfDNA,and the serial changes of cfDNA concentrations were observed dynamically in some ACS patients before and after percutaneous coronary intervention(PCI). The concentrations of cardiac troponin I(cTnI),creatine kinase-MB(CK-MB) and myoglobin(MYO) were determined by chemiluminescence assay,and the correlations of cfDNA with cTnI,CK-MB and MYO were analyzed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was performed for evaluating the significance of cfDNA in the diagnosis of ACS. Results The concentration of cfDNA was higher in ACS group [2 550.3(969.9-4 866.4) ng/mL] than that in healthy control group [118.3(81.1-221.1) ng/mL,P<0.001]. The concentration of cfDNA was decreased in 10 patients after PCI,and there was no statistical significance for cfDNA concentration before and after PCI(P>0.05). No correlation was found between cfDNA concentration and cTnI,CK-MB,MYO in patients with ACS (r2=0.031,0.152 and 0.217,P>0.05). ROC curves showed that the areas under the curves(0.95) and the sensitivities of cfDNA(82.76%) were better than those of cTnI(0.57 and 22.41%),CK-MB(0.81 and 20.69%) and MYO(0.64 and 10.34%). The specificities of the 4 parameters were all 100.00%. Conclusions Plasma concentration of cfDNA is increased in ACS patients,its diagnosis significance is better than those of commonly-used myocardial biomarkers,and cfDNA may be an important biomarker for the diagnosis of ACS.

Key words: Cell-free DNA, Alu gene, Biomarkers, Acute coronary syndrome

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