Association between Plasma Thiol Parameters and Troponin Levels in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome and Prediction of In-Hospital Ventricular Arrhythmia

Ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) are the main cause of in-hospital mortality and morbidity in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients and its relationship with thiol is not known. To investigate the relationship between plasma thiol levels and troponin levels in patients with ACS and to estimate in-hospital VA development during hospital stay. The study included 231 consecutive ST-segment elevation ACS (STE-ACS) and non-ST-segment elevation ACS (NSTE-ACS) patients. After application of exclusion criteria, 191 patients were included in the statistical analysis. Patients were classified into two groups: STE-ACS group (n=94) and NSTE-ACS group (n=97). Plasma thiol, disulphide and troponin levels were measured and troponin-to-native thiol ratio (TNTR) was calculated. A two-sided p value of less than 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Plasma native thiol, total thiol, disulphide and their ratios were similar between the groups. TNTR was significantly higher in the STE-ACS group compared to the NSTE-ACS group. Troponin and thiol levels correlated negatively and significantly. Native thiol was found to be an independent predictor of VA development in STE-ACS patients and in all ACS patients. TNTR was found to be an independent predictor of VA development in NSTE-ACS patients and in all ACS patients. Plasma thiol levels can be used to identify ACS patients at high risk for in-hospital VA development. Correlation between troponin and thiol levels may suggest that thiols may be an important marker for diagnosis and prognosis of ACS with the help of future studies.