Heart type fatty acid binding protein in relation to pharmacologic scintigraphy in coronary artery disease

Heart-type fatty acid-binding protein (H-FABP) is a marker of myocardial necrosis, but whether it increases during myocardial ischemia is not known. This study investigated whether serum levels of H-FABP change during adenosine stress testing and nuclear imaging in patients with stable coronary artery disease.Thirty stable patients with established coronary artery disease on their medications were studied. Sampling was performed before the stress test, at the end of adenosine infusion, as well as 1, 2 and 3 h after the completion of the infusion.No difference in H-FABP serum levels were found at the five pre-specified time points in the overall group (p=0.99); furthermore, there was no significant difference regardless of the test result – positive (p=1) or negative (p=0.98).It is concluded that H-FABP does not change significantly during pharmacologic stress testing in patients with known coronary artery disease and there is no difference whether there is inducible ischemia or not.