OBJECTIVETo investigate the relationship between serum high-sensitivity C-reaction protein (hs-CRP) and heart fatty acid binding protein (h-FABP) on cardiac accidents in patients with unstable angina pectoris (UAP).

METHODSerum levels of hs-CRP, h-FABP, cardiac troponin-I (cTn-I) and creatine kinase MB isoenzyme (CK-MB) were measured and cardiac accidents within 2 weeks after the test were observed in 74 patients (male 45) with stable AP (SAP) and 56 patients (male 29) with UAP.

RESULTSThe incidence of cardiac accidents was significantly higher in UAP group (26.8%) than that in SAP group (10.53%, P < 0.001). Serum hs-CRP [(7.64 +/- 2.18) mg/L vs. (1.78 +/- 0.62) mg/L, P < 0.001], h-FABP [(16.46 +/- 5.28) microg/L vs. (3.15 +/- 2.61) microg/L, P < 0.001] and cTn-I [(1.28 +/- 0.43) microg/L vs. (0.67 +/- 0.09) microg/L, P < 0.001] levels were also significantly higher in UAP group than those in SAP group. The serum hs-CRP and h-FABP levels for patients with cardiac accidents in the SAP group were (6.32 +/- 2.06) microg/L and (8.76 +/- 3.83) microg/L respectively, which were higher than those for the patients having no cardiac accidents in the control (P < 0.01). The serum hs-CRP, h-FABP, cTn-I and CK-MB levels in patients with cardiac accidents were significantly higher than those in patients without cardiac accidents in both SAP and UAP groups.

CONCLUSIONMeasuring traditional parameters for myocardial damage (cTn-I and CK-MB) in combination with hs-CRP and h-FABP is valuable for predicting the risk of recent cardiac accidents for AP patients.