Purpose: to study elucidate association of active cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection with endothelial dysfunction in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI).
Materials and methods: The study included 42 volunteers without ischemic heart disease (IHD) and 63 patients with AMI. Blood samples for analysis of the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of CMV in plasma by real-time polymerase chain reaction were taken in patients - before coronary angiography, in volunteers - at admission. In addition, in patients with AMI and volunteers without IHD, endothelial function was analyzed using endothelium-dependent vasodilatation (EDVD) test of the brachial artery.
Results: We showed that in patients with AMI, the concentration of CMV DNA in plasma was statistically significantly increased when compared with that in volunteers without IHD, which reflects active CMV infection - 1185.7 (0; 3003.0) vs. 0 (0; 910.8) copies of DNA / ml plasma (p=0.011). In comparison with volunteers without IHD, patients with AMI also more often had endothelial dysfunction - 11.5 (7.5, 15.2) % vs. 4.4 (0; 9.6) % of cases (p.
Keywords: acute myocardial infarction; cytomegalovirus; endothelial function; herpes virus.