OBJECTIVE: To investigate the differential plasma protein profiles in patients with hyperlipidemia & atherosclerosis (H&A) of different patterns of phlegm-stasis syndrome (PSS) for seeking their biomarker proteins. METHODS: Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and gel screening graphical analysis were performed on plasma proteins got from 146 patients; corresponding protein spots were fetched from the gel for two-stage mass-spectrometric analysis by quadruple time-of-flight mass spectrometry; then the differential proteins for PSS were discriminated by Fisher discriminate analysis. RESULTS: Excepting two uncertain proteins, 7 differential proteins were screened out from the 11 differentially expressed plasma protein spots with variability over 100% in the inter-block matching. Classic analysis found that haptoglobin precursor and fibrinogen gamma chain were possibly the plasma biomarker proteins for H & A; fibrinogen beta chain and apolipoprotein A-I precursor were that set apart PSS from non-PSS; fibrinogen gamma chain, albumin and apolipoprotein A-I precursor were for phlegm syndrome; haptoglobin precursor, adrenomedullin binding protein precursor, albumin and complement component C4 were for stasis syndrome; albumin and adrenomedullin binding protein precursor were for the phlegm-stasis mutual blocking syndrome. Moreover, the above mentioned expressions of possible marker proteins had their own special rule of changing in the transforming progress of PSS. CONCLUSION: This study reported, for the first time, the existence of evident variation of functional protein constitution in different patterns of PSS, and definite compatibility being detected in some functional proteins, which may be the marker proteins for making diagnosis and prognosis of PSS in H&A. Besides, preliminary proof for the transformation of PSS has gained at the functional protein level.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the differential plasma protein profiles in patients with hyperlipidemia & atherosclerosis (H&A) of different patterns of phlegm-stasis syndrome (PSS) for seeking their biomarker proteins. METHODS: Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and gel screening graphical analysis were performed on plasma proteins got from 146 patients; corresponding protein spots were fetched from the gel for two-stage mass-spectrometric analysis by quadruple time-of-flight mass spectrometry; then the differential proteins for PSS were discriminated by Fisher discriminate analysis. RESULTS: Excepting two uncertain proteins, 7 differential proteins were screened out from the 11 differentially expressed plasma protein spots with variability over 100% in the inter-block matching. Classic analysis found that haptoglobin precursor and fibrinogen gamma chain were possibly the plasma biomarker proteins for H & A; fibrinogen beta chain and apolipoprotein A-I precursor were that set apart PSS from non-PSS; fibrinogen gamma chain, albumin and apolipoprotein A-I precursor were for phlegm syndrome; haptoglobin precursor, adrenomedullin binding protein precursor, albumin and complement component C4 were for stasis syndrome; albumin and adrenomedullin binding protein precursor were for the phlegm-stasis mutual blocking syndrome. Moreover, the above mentioned expressions of possible marker proteins had their own special rule of changing in the transforming progress of PSS. CONCLUSION: This study reported, for the first time, the existence of evident variation of functional protein constitution in different patterns of PSS, and definite compatibility being detected in some functional proteins, which may be the marker proteins for making diagnosis and prognosis of PSS in H&A. Besides, preliminary proof for the transformation of PSS has gained at the functional protein level.