Circulating cell-free mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid is increased in coronary heart disease patients with diabetes mellitus.

Aims/introduction: Circulating cell-free mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid (ccf-mtDNA) is presumably derived from injured tissues or cells in the body and has been suggested to be potential biomarker in several diseases. The present study explored whether mtDNA could be used as a biomarker to evaluate disease in coronary heart disease (CHD) patients with or without diabetes mellitus (DM).

Materials And Methods: A total of 50 CHD patients with type 2 diabetes, 50 CHD patients without type 2 diabetes, and 50 age- and sex-matched patients without CHD and DM (non-CHD-DM) were recruited.