INTRODUCTIONAcute myocardial infarction (AMI), commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die. This is most commonly due to occlusion of a coronary artery following the rupture of a vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque which is an unstable collection of lipids (cholesterol and fatty acids) and white blood cells (especially macrophages) in the wall of an artery. The resulting ischemia (restriction in blood supply) and ensuing oxygen shortage, if left untreated for a sufficient period of time, can cause damage or death (infarction) of heart muscle tissue (i.e. myocardium).
1,2Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) continues to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide.3,4 It remains a leading cause of death in India and represents an enormous cost to health care system. 5 The mortality rate of MI is approximately 30% and for every 1 in 25 patients who survive the initial hospitalization, dies in the first year after AMI. Indians are four time more prone to AMI as compared to the people of other countries due to a combination of the genetic and lifestyle factors that promote metabolic dysfunction. The risk of ABSTRACT Background: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, which results from occlusion of coronary artery. Dyslipidemia is a major risk factor of AMI. C-reactive protein (CRP) is an acute phase protein, synthesized by hepatocytes in response to cytokines released into circulation by activated leukocytes and has been found to increase after AMI. The objective of the present study is to investigate lipid profile in AMI patients and correlate it with inflammatory marker i.e. CRP. Methods: The present study includes 150 AMI patients and 100 normal healthy individuals as controls. In all the cases and controls, serum lipid profile and inflammatory marker were measured by diagnostic kits supplied by ERBA. Results: The levels of lipid profile and inflammatory marker were significantly altered in the AMI cases compared to controls. We found significantly higher levels of total cholesterol, TG, LDL, VLDL, CRP and lower level of HDL in AMI compared to that of control subjects. We also found strong positive correlation of CRP with total cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL-C and VLDL-C and significant negative correlation with HDL-C in AMI patients. Conclusions: We found alterations in the lipid profile and inflammatory marker in AMI cases; hence, all the people should undergo regular check up including lipid profile evaluation and inflammatory marker such as CRP to decrease the incidence, morbidity and mortality from the disease.