Estrogen receptor alpha in coronary intimal hyperplasia in congenital heart disease

CASTILLA R.; OTERO-LOSADA M.; MULLER A; KÖLLIKER FRES R; AMBROSIO G.; MILEI J.

Athens

Congreso; Eur Soc Hypertension Joint Meeting Internat Soc Hypertension 2014; 2014

Eur Society of Hypertension

Purpose. To study estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) expression in coronary intimal hyperplasia in children with congenital heart disease (CHD). These so considered preatherosclerotic lesions are highly frequent in pediatric patients with CHD. Activation of ERα might be a protective mechanism against vascular alterations by inhibition of smooth muscle cell proliferation and migration which are involved in intimal thickening formation. Methods. Coronary arteries from 57 hearts of CHD patients (mean 2.4 years old, 50.8% male, 52.6 % cyanotic type, 39% surgically repaired) and from 10 hearts of control children were used to analyze ERα expression by immunohistochemistry. Results. ERα expression was not related to sex or cyanotic characteristics. Expression of ERα in intimal thickenings was lower (p<0.01) and the rate of coronary intimal hyperplasia was higher (80% vs 47%, p<0.0002) in surgically treated patients than in non-surgically treated patients which showed values similar to controls. This difference was largely due to reduced intimal expression of ERα whereas media layer expression was unchanged. Conclusion. Reduced ERα expression in intimal hyperplasia might represent a risk factor for the development of coronary pre-atherosclerotic lesions development in CHD patients.