Role of Adiponectin and Endothelial Progenitor Cells in Reperfusion Injury in Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction

There is experimental evidence that low levels of adiponectin are associated with more reperfusion injury. In addition experimental studies have demonstrated that endothelial progenitor cells may have a favorable effect on remodeling, mainly through stimulation of neo-revascularisation. Clinical data on these issues are lacking. This clinical project studies the role of adiponectin, endothelial progenitor cells and endothelial microparticles in the ischaemia-reperfusion process and the compensatory ventricular remodelling in a population of 250 infarction patients treated with primary PCI. If the role of these factors could be confirmed in this clinical setting, those factors might represent a new target for therapeutic interventions in AMI patients.