is Prevalent in Symptomatic Coronary Atherosclerotic Plaque Samples Obtained From Directional Coronary Atherectomy, but its Quantity is Not Associated With Plaque Instability: An Immunohistochemical and Molecular Study.

Aim: To clarify whether there is any association between the extent of ) infection and plaque instability or post-directional coronary atherectomy (DCA) restenosis, we determined the frequency of infection and its localization in symptomatic coronary atherosclerotic plaques using specimens obtained from DCA.

Methods And Results: Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) revealed the existence of in all 50 specimens of coronary atherosclerotic plaques obtained by DCA. -positive cell ratio determined with IHC or copy numbers of DNA detected by RT-PCR did not differ significantly between patients with stable angina pectoris and those with acute coronary syndrome (IHC: 16.4 ± 7.6% vs 18.0 ± 7.1%, = .42; RT-PCR: no. of cases with high copy numbers 12/25 vs 10/25, = .78), or between patients with subsequent post-DCA restenosis and those without (IHC: 17.1 ± 8.0% vs 18.0 ± 7.4%, = .74; RT-PCR: 5/12 vs 10/21, = 1.00).

Conclusions: was highly prevalent in coronary atherosclerotic plaques of patients who underwent DCA. However, the extent of infection in coronary atherosclerotic plaques was not associated with plaque instability or post-DCA restenosis.