High expression of long chain acyl-coenzyme A synthetase 1 in peripheral blood may be a molecular marker for assessing the risk of acute myocardial infarction

The current study aimed to investigate whether the increased expression of long chain acyl-coenzymeA synthetase 1 (ACSL1) in peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) may be a molecular marker for the genetic evaluation of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The mechanism of action of ACSL1 in the pathogenesis of AMI was also investigated. A total of 75 patients with AMI and 70 individuals without coronary heart disease were selected to participate in the present study. The demographic and clinical information of the enrolled subjects was recorded. Reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis were applied to measure the expression of ACSL1 at the mRNA and protein levels. It was demonstrated that the expression of ACSL1 mRNA and protein in PBL was increased in patients with AMI compared with controls. Logistic regression analysis indicated that ACSL1 expression in PBL was an independent risk factor of AMI. There was a significant positive association between the level of ACSL1 expression and the degree of atherosclerosis in the coronary artery. Furthermore, patients with AMI exhibited an increased risk of atherosclerosis due to increased fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride and lipoprotein levels and decreased high-density lipoprotein levels, compared with controls. Therefore, the current study demonstrated that ACSL1 expression was increased in the PBLs of patients with AMI. The elevated expression of ACSL1 acts an independent risk factor of AMI and may act as a potential biomarker when determining the risk of AMI.