In Brief:
Plasma soluble adhesion molecules, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM)-1, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and E-selectin levels of patients with isolated coronary artery ectasia (CAE), patients with obstructive coronary artery disease without CAE and subjects with angiographically normal coronary arteries were evaluated. Patients with isolated CAE were detected to have significantly higher levels of plasma soluble ICAM-1, VCAM-1 and E-selectin in comparison with patients with obstructive coronary artery disease without CAE (ICAM, 673±153 versus 381±106, respectively, P=0.001; VCAM-1, 2366±925 versus 1136±208, respectively, P=0.001; E-selectin, 74±21 versus 61±18, respectively, P=0.01) and subjects with normal coronary arteries (ICAM-1,673±153 versus 303±131, respectively, P=0.001; VCAM-1, 2366±925 versus 729±231, respectively, P=0.001; E-selectin, 74±21 versus 49±9, respectively, P=0.001), suggesting the presence of a more severe and extensive chronic inflammation in the coronary circulation in patients with isolated CAE.
