Prognostic Value of Human Peripheral Monocyte Subsets for Future Coronary Events in Patients Without Significant Coronary Artery Stenosis.

Background: Monocytes in human peripheral blood are heterogeneous and can be divided into 2 groups, inflammatory and pro-inflammatory, according to the differential expression of CD14 and CD16. Pro-inflammatory monocytes (CD14CD16) seem to contribute to the development of coronary artery disease. This study aimed to investigate the involvement of specific human peripheral monocyte subsets in the development of future coronary events.

Methods and results: We enrolled 271 patients who were suspected to have either stable angina pectoris or silent myocardial ischemia and underwent coronary angiography (CAG). Two monocyte subsets (CD14CD16and CD14CD16) were measured by flow cytometry. Patients who did not undergo coronary artery revascularization at initial CAG were followed as the medical therapy group, which included 136 patients among whom 15 had future coronary events. The frequency of CD14CD16monocytes was significantly higher in patients who had future coronary events than in those who did not (P<0.01). Furthermore, the frequencies of CD14CD16monocyte were not significantly different between patients who had future coronary events and those who underwent coronary revascularization at initial CAG (P<0.33). Multivariate analysis revealed that the frequency of CD14CD16monocytes was an independent predictor for future coronary events (P<0.01).

Conclusions: An increase in the abundance of human peripheral pro-inflammatory monocytes is related to the development of future coronary events.