Reduced plasma levels of NGF and BDNF in patients with acute coronary syndromes.

To test the hypothesis that neurotrophins might undergo significant changes in acute coronary syndrome (ACS), NGF and BDNF levels in sera of patients suffering of ACS and in control subjects were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Plasma concentrations of glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL, HDL, creatin kinase (CK), MB isoenzyme CK (CK-MB) were also measured with routine laboratory methods. We found reduced plasma levels of both NGF and BDNF in patients with ACS. These observations supports the hypothesis that one or both of these neurotrophins may be implicated in the pathogenesis of human coronary atherosclerosis.