Liberation of vessel-adherent myeloperoxidase reflects plaque burden in patients with stable coronary artery disease

Abstract Objective Myeloperoxidase (MPO) has emerged as an important pathophysiological determinant of inflammatory vascular artery disease. It is appreciated that vessel immobilized, rather than circulating, MPO is critical for the progression of atherosclerotic lesions. The objective of this study was to investigate whether vessel-immobilized MPO is associated with the extent of coronary plaque burden. Methods MPO plasma levels were determined by ELISA before and after heparin-release of vessel-bound MPO, to study the relation between vascular MPO deposition and densitometrically assessed coronary plaque burden in 77 patients with stable coronary artery disease. Results Patients with a low increase in MPO plasma levels upon heparinization had a significantly smaller total plaque area and volume (12.1[IR:6.2–19.4]mm2 vs. 19.8[IR:11.3–31.5]mm2 , p