Assessment of Wnt1 and Wnt3a levels in patients with different phenotypes of stable coronary artery disease

M. Al-Ahdal; A. O. Iusupova; N. N. Pakhtusov; O. A. Slepova; A. S. Lishuta; Yu. N. Belenkov

doi:10.20996/1819-6446-2025-3229

Assessment of Wnt1 and Wnt3a levels in patients with different phenotypes of stable coronary artery disease

M. Al-Ahdal, A. O. Iusupova, N. N. Pakhtusov, O. A. Slepova, A. S. Lishuta, Yu. N. Belenkov

https://doi.org/10.20996/1819-6446-2025-3229

EDN: RJNNIQ

Full Text:

PDF (Rus)

Generate QR code

Abstract

Aim. To assess the Wnt1 and Wnt3a proteins levels in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) and different phenotypes of coronary artery lesions.
Material and methods. A cross-sectional study included 72 patients with a verified diagnosis of stable CAD (aged 45-75 years) and 30 healthy individuals (control group) without cardiovascular risk factors. Based on coronary angiography or multispiral computed tomography, patients were divided into two groups. Group I — with non-obstructive coronary artery lesions (non-obCAD, n=30; including 11 men (37.5%); median age — 66.0 years [60.5; 71.5]; body mass index (BMI) 26.7 [25.5-30.2] kg/m²); Group II — with obstructive coronary artery lesions (obCAD, n=42; including 30 men (71.4%); median age — 64.0 years [57.0; 72.0]; BMI 27.4; [24.8; 29.8] kg/m²). The control group included 30 volunteers (10 men (33.3%); median age — 28.0 years [26.0; 37.0]; BMI 22.0; [20.9; 25.3] kg/m²). All patients underwent standard laboratory testing (complete blood count, biochemistry blood test, urinalysis) and instrumental diagnostics: electrocardiography (ECG), 24-hour Holter ECG monitoring, echocardiography, stress echocardiography and/or myocardial perfusion scintigraphy with a stress test. The levels of Wnt1 and Wnt3a proteins, endothelin-1, interleukins (IL-1β, IL-6), and C-reactive protein were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Results. The CAD patient groups were comparable in age and BMI but differed in sex: the obstructive CAD group was predominantly male (71.4%), while females predominated (62.5%) in the non-obstructive CAD group. The level of Wnt1 protein was significantly higher in the obstructive CAD group (0.19 ng/ml) compared to both the non-obstructive CAD (0.15 ng/ml; p<0.001) and control groups (0.15 ng/ml; p=0.001). The level of Wnt3a was also higher in the obstructive CAD group (0.24 ng/ml) and the control group (0.25 ng/ml) than in the non-obstructive CAD group (0.11 ng/ml; p<0.001). Endothelin-1 levels were higher in the nonobstructive CAD group (33.5 pg/ml) than in the obstructive CAD group (27.3 pg/ml; p=0.027). Inflammatory markers (IL-1β, IL-6, CRP) did not differ significantly. Factor analysis revealed two main components: “lipid profile” and “endothelial damage” (Wnt1, Wnt3a, and endothelin-1). ROC analysis showed the second component had high prognostic ability for differentiating CAD phenotypes (AUC=0.987; p<0.001). A logistic regression model based on Wnt1 and Wnt3a demonstrated high accuracy (AUC=0.953) in identifying obstructive CAD.
Conclusion. The obtained data may suggest a possible role of the Wnt signaling pathway in the pathogenesis of different types of coronary artery lesions in CAD. Increased levels of Wnt1 and Wnt3a were associated with obstructive coronary artery lesions. An attempt was made to develop a regression model based on Wnt1 and Wnt3a concentrations. The resulting model has high diagnostic value for identifying patients with obCAD. This allows considering these proteins as potential prognostic biomarkers for risk stratification and clarifying the type of coronary artery lesion in CAD.