Levels of Protein S in Saudi Patients with Myocardial Infarction

Abstract

A heart attack - also known as a myocardial infarction (MI) or acute myocardial infarction (AMI)—happens when blood supply to a part of the heart stops, resulting in heart muscle damage. Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of MI. Risk factors include smoking, diabetes, lack of exercise, obesity, high blood pressure, poor diet, and excessive alcohol consumption. Protein S, a vitamin K-dependent protein, functions as a cofactor for activated protein C (APC), allowing it to inactivate factors Va and VIIIa more effectively. This study examines levels of protein S in Saudi patients with myocardial infarction. A case-control study was performed to estimate the level of protein S in Saudi patients with MI. A total of 150 samples (2.5/mL of venous blood) from patients with MI and healthy controls (n = 50) were obtained and analyzed using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) sandwich. Patients’ mean protein S levels were within normal ranges (86.19.63 and 76.2030.64, respectively). Patients and controls had no significant difference in mean antithrombin (ATIII) and protein C levels (p-value = 0.26, 0.2, and 0.19, respectively). The findings also revealed that certain samples had low ATIII (8.7%) and protein C levels (11.3% ). From this study, we conclude that protein S deficiency was not found to be a major risk factor for MI.