Abstract:

AIM: Heart type free fatty acid binding protein (H-FABP) is a new marker of myocyte damage used in the early diagnosis (within the fi rst two hours) of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The aim of our study was to evaluate the cardio-sensitivity and specifi city of H-FABP during the acute phase of the AMI in comparison with creatinine phsphokinase-m band (CPK-MB) and troponin-I. METHODS: Patients diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome (n=41) and chest pains of non cardiac origin (n=38) were included. All participants had symptoms lasting not more than 12 hours. At the time of hospital admission blood samples were obtained in order to determine the serum levels of H-FABP, CPK-MB and Troponin-I. H-FABP levels were measured by using Hycult biotech HK 401 Human H-FABP Elisa kits and the sandwich method. CPK-MB and Troponin-I levels were measured in Liaison Diasorin apareil with the principle of chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay. Beside the comparison of the data obtained from both groups, a ROC curve analysis was performed to defi ne the sensitivity and specifi city of the measurement of the H-FABP levels to diagnose the acute coronary syndrome. RESULTS: The parameters of gender, age, and smoking did not differ between the study and the control groups. Serum levels of diagnostic cardiac markers of acute coronary syndrome including CPK-MB, Troponin-I and H-FABP were signifi cantly higher in the study group (p < 0.05). In addition, serum very low density lipoprotein (VLDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL) and total cholesterol levels were signifi cantly higher in the study group in comparison to the control group (p < 0.05). Area under the curve was measured larger for H-FABP at all studied time intervals in comparison with the AUC measured for CPKMB and Troponin-I (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: H-FABP may be detected in the blood samples of patients diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome by using the appropriate and sensitive laboratory testing methods and it may be used as an alternative diagnostic tool instead of the traditional markers.

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