Ticagrelor Increases SIRT1 and HES1 mRNA Levels in Peripheral Blood Cells from Patients with Stable Coronary Artery Disease and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Figures

• 

  Figure 1. Droplet digital (dd) PCR based analysis of the expression of inflammation- and oxidative stress-related genes in peripheral blood cells of stable coronary artery disease (CAD)/concomitant chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients following 1-month treatment with ticagrelor and clopidogrel. Scatter plots, with medians, of the expression levels of RORγt (A), FoxP3 (B), NLRP3 (C), ICAM1 (D), and JAG1 (E) are shown. The absolute quantity of cDNA (copies/µL) was normalized to the average number of copies of GUSB. Follow up vs. baseline gene expression values, ANOVA test. Comparison of gene expression levels at baseline, student t test.

• 

  Figure 2. Droplet digital (dd) PCR based analysis of the levels of SIRT1 and HES1 mRNA in peripheral blood cells of stable CAD/COPD patients following 1-month treatment with ticagrelor or clopidogrel. Scatter plots, with medians, of the expression levels of SIRT1 (A) and HES1 (B) in peripheral blood cells of stable CAD/COPD patients following 1-month treatment with ticagrelor or clopidogrel. The absolute quantity of cDNA (copies/µL) was normalized to the average number of copies of GUSB. Follow up vs. baseline gene expression values, ANOVA test, * p < 0.05 and ** p < 0.01. Comparison of gene expression levels at baseline, student t test, ** p < 0.01.

• 

  Figure 3. Before-after analysis of SIRT1 and HES1. Before-after plot of SIRT1 (A) and HES1 (B) gene expression in peripheral blood cells from patients before and after one month of treatment with clopidogrel or ticagrelor. For clarity, only changes in gene expression higher than 20% of the values at baseline are connected and color-coded (red for fold changes >1.2 and blue for <0.8).

• 

  Figure 4. Correlation analyses. (A) Correlation between changes in SIRT1 and HES1 mRNA expression levels and changes in serum levels of Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF). Correlations were assessed by Spearman’s correlation test (HES1, R = −0.469, p < 0.01; SIRT1, R = −0.440, p < 0.01). (B) Correlation between changes in HES1 and SIRT1 mRNA expression levels. Correlations were assessed by Spearman’s correlation test (R = 0.466, p < 0.01). SIRT1 and HES1 changes were defined as ratio between mRNA levels after (T30) and before (T0) treatment with ticagrelor or clopidogrel. EGF changes were expressed as ratio between serum EGF concentration at T30 over serum EGF concentration at T0.