Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2 and Osteopontin Gene Expression in Epicardial Adipose Tissue from Patients with Coronary Artery Disease Is Associated with the Presence of Calcified Atherosclerotic Plaques

Early human evidence such as case series or small samples is exploring possible benefits.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Purpose It has been proposed that the cardiovascular effects of obesity are related to epicardial adipose tissue (EAT), which seems to play an active role on the development and calcification of atherosclerotic plaques, but the mechanisms are still unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine whether the EAT expresses the genes of calcifying factors and whether such expression is associated with the body mass index (BMI) and with the presence of coronary artery calcium (CAC) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Patients and methods Forty-three patients with CAD were enrolled specifically for this study, and their CAC score and EAT volume were determined by computed tomography. As the group of comparison, 41 patients with aortic valve stenosis and CAC = 0 were included (control group). A representative subgroup of 16 CAD patients and 23 controls were selected to obtain EAT biopsies during the chirurgical procedure from the atrio-interventricular groove. The mRNA expression of bone morphogenetic protein-2 and -4 ( BMP-2, BMP-4) , osteopontin ( OPN ), osteonectin ( ON ), and osteoprotegerin ( OPG ) in EAT was determined by qPCR. Results The gene expression of OPN and BMP-2 was 70% and 52% higher in the EAT from CAD patients than that in controls, respectively, whereas the expression of OPG, ON , and BMP-4 was similar in both groups. The EAT volume positive

Evidence level

Early human evidence such as case series or small samples is exploring possible benefits.

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