USA: A recent study reveals that measuring circulating fibrocyte levels 6 months after STEMI is positively associated with 6-month infarct size assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR).
The findings, published in the journal American Heart Journal Plus: Cardiology Research and Practice, if validated in a larger study circulating fibrocyte levels could be used as a biomarker of infarct size. Also, changes in circulating fibrocyte levels could potentially be used to assess the response to therapy.
Previous studies have shown infarct size to be a strong predictor of outcomes after ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Circulating fibrocytes are bone marrow-derived progenitor cells related to fibrotic processes. Considering this, Ellen C.Keeley, Department of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA, and colleagues aimed to test whether fibrocytes correlate with infarct size in STEMI patients treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in a prospective observational study.
The study included patients with STEMI treated with primary PCI. The main outcome measure was a correlation of fibrocyte levels with infarct size.
Using flow cytometry, the researchers quantified peripheral blood fibrocytes at discharge from STEMI hospitalization and at 6 months follow-up. Infarct size was determined within 2 weeks of discharge and at 6 months follow-up using late gadolinium enhancement on CMR.
Based on the study, the researchers found the following:
Among 14 patients (median age 54 years, 79% men) with STEMI, there was a statistically significant positive correlation between fibrocyte levels at 6 months and 6-month infarct size on CMR (r = 0.58).
In addition, there was positive correlation between peak troponin I level (r = 0.85), and white blood cell count (r = 0.55) during the hospital stay and 6-month infarct size on CMR.
To conclude, circulating levels of fibrocytes at 6 months positively correlate with infarct size on CMR at 6 months in STEMI patients treated with primary PCI.
"If validated in larger studies, circulating fibrocyte levels may be useful as a risk stratification tool, or as a target of response to therapy," wrote the authors.
Reference:
Mohammed Elzeneini, Mohammad Al-Ani, Anthony E. Peters, Marie D. Burdick, Ning Yang, Michael Salerno, Borna Mehrad, Ellen C. Keeley, Circulating fibrocyte levels correlate with infarct size in patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention, American Heart Journal Plus: Cardiology Research and Practice, Volume 12, 2021, 100071, ISSN 2666-6022, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ahjo.2021.100071