Associations between the carotid artery plaque and the level of high sensitive C-reactive protein,matrix metalloproteinase-2/9,CD40 ligand

Objective To evaluate the vulnerability of carotid artery plaque by ultrasonic inspection of carotid artery plaque,combined with the study on the level of high sensitive C-reactive protein(hs-CRP),matrix metalloproteinase(MMP,including MMP-2,MMP-9),CD40 ligand in plasma of patients.Methods Sixty-eight patients with the first ever cerebral infarction(group A),62 with asymptomatic carotid atherosclerosis(group B)and 55 normal controls(group C)were investigated.The intima-medial thickness(IMT),plaque type were detected or calculated respectively by ultrasonic inspection.Then the plasma levels of hs-CRP,MMP-2,MMP-9 and CD40L were measured with ELISA.The patients of A group were evaluated with neurologic impairment scale.Results Compared with B group,the IMT in A group were higher,the main in A group were the vulnerable plague(60.3%),and stable plaque in B group(77.4%);the plasma levels of hs-CRP,MMP-2,MMP-9 and CD40L in A group were higher than B group and C group(P0.05,respectively).The plasma levels of MMP-2,MMP-9 and CD40L in vulnerable plaque of carotid in A group were higher than stable plaque and no plaque patients(P0.05,respectively).In the vulnerable plague patients,correlation analysis manifested positive correlation between levels of hs-CRP and MMP-2,MMP-9(r=0.516,P=0.001;r=0.653,P=0.001,respectively),MMP-2和MMP-9,CD40L(r=0.637,P=0.001;r=0.614,P=0.001,respectively);MMP-9 and CD40L(r=0.749,P=0.012).Neurologic impairment scale in the vulnerable plague patients(26.19±11.25)were higher than stable plaque(23.58±10.46)and no plaque(23.14±10.18)patients.hs-CRP,MMP-2,MMP-9,CD40L and neurologic impairment scale is positive correlation(r=0.652,P=0.001;r=0.761,P=0.001;r=0.729,P=0.001;r=0.648,P=0.010,respectively).Conclusions Ultrasonic inspection of the type of carotid artery plaque,combined with the study on plasma levels of inflammatory mediators were hepful in judging the vulnerability of carotid artery plaques.