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. 2023 Nov 7;9(11):e21875.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21875. eCollection 2023 Nov.

Lithium and zinc levels along with oxidative status in myocardial infarction: A case-control study

Hamidreza Shiri  1 , Arian Sagha  2 , Hamidreza Nasri  3 , Sobhan Mehdeipour  2 , Saba Fooladi  4 , Mehrnaz Mehrabani  5 , Soudabeh Farhadi  5 , Sharareh Kharazmi  6 , Mohammad Hadi Nematollahi  7
Affiliations

Lithium and zinc levels along with oxidative status in myocardial infarction: A case-control study

Hamidreza Shiri et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

Background: Coronary artery disease (CAD) and myocardial infarction (MI) are the most prevalent diseases globally. While several risk factors for MI are well assessed, the influence of trace elements on MI has not been thoroughly studied. This study aimed to evaluate lithium (Li) and zinc (Zn) levels in MI patients and healthy control and assess their relationship with oxidative stress (OS) parameters, such as nitric oxide (NO) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC).

Methods: This case-control study was performed on 182 patients with MI and 83 healthy subjects at Shafa Hospital in Kerman, Iran. MI patients were divided into two groups based on the angiography results: those with coronary artery block above 50 % (CAB >50 %, n = 92) and those with coronary artery block below 50 % (CAB <50 %, n = 90). A flame atomic absorption spectrometer was used to detect Li and Zn levels, and biochemical indices were measured by an autoanalyzer. Also, ferric reducing antioxidant power assay and the Griess method were used to measure the amounts of NO and TAC.

Results: The levels of TAC and Li were significantly higher in the control group than in the patient groups (in both CAB >50 % and CAB <50 % groups). Furthermore, in the CAB <50 % group, TAC and Li levels were significantly higher than in the CAB >50 % group. In the Zn levels evaluation, higher concentration was seen in the CAB >50 % group compared to the CAB <50 % group (P < 0.05). Moreover, Zn and NO levels were significantly higher in both CAB groups compared to controls. In continue, Li levels had a positive association with TAC and ejection fraction percentage (EF%) as well as a negative association with NO levels and Zn levels had a significant positive association with NO and a negative association with TAC. In logistic regression analysis, Li, TAC, and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol significantly decreased the odds ratio (OR) of MI, whereas Zn, NO, total cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) significantly increased the OR of MI. Furthermore, the area under the curve (AUC) analysis indicated that Li had the highest AUC for the diagnosis of CAB >50 % (Li < 167 ng/mL), and Zn ≥ 1810 μg/mL increased disease severity.

Conclusion: Our investigation revealed that Li had a protective effect against CAD by decreasing OS and increasing EF%. However, Zn at concentrations higher than 1810 μg/mL was found to be cytotoxic and increased the risk of MI through increased OS. Taken togather, it could be concluded that Li supplementation may decrease the risk of CAD.

Keywords: Lithium; Myocardial infarction; Nitric oxide; Oxidative stress; Zinc.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Comparison of TAC, NO, Zn, and Li in study groups. Parameters are presented as mean ± SEM, and one-way ANOVA/Kruskal-Wallis with post-hoc Tukey tests were used to analyze data. The significance levels are: *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001. Abbreviation; Li: Lithium, Zn: Zinc, NO: Nitric Oxide, TAC: Total antioxidant capacity.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The ROC curve and the best cut-off for Li and Zn in CAB<%50 and CAB>%50.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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