Abstract

Zhao Jian Jun, Song Yu Ming, Wang Jing, Zhao Feng Qin, Tan Ping and * Yang Lei

Cardiovascular disease is common in patients with COPD. It has been found that a considerable number of patients who are hospitalized for AECOPD have elevated cardiac troponin, suggests there is subclinical myocardial damage in AECOPD, but little is known in stable COPD patients. Hence, the aims of the study were to compare troponin T among patients with stable COPD and AECOPD with healthy controls and assess the association between pulmonary function and plasma troponin T level. Samples were obtained from 68 stable COPD and 72 AECOPD patients and 48 healthy controls. Plasma concentrations of troponin T were measured by ELISA. Pulmonary function testing was performed in all patients and healthy controls. We found that troponin T levels were significantly higher in both stable COPD and AECOPD patients as compared with healthy controls [19.7±1.3 and 27.6±3.4, 4.3±0.5μg/L, P<0.01]. The troponin T levels were also elevated associated with the severity of disease. Our data indicate that low-grade myocardial damage seems to be present not only in AECOPD but also in stable COPD patients. We need to understand the pathogenic mechanisms in COPD and its comorbidities in order to be able to develop new strategies for the prevention and treatment of this condition.