Abstract: Abstract: Objective　To investigate the correlation between plasma neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipoprotein (NGAL) and the severity of coronary stenosis in patients with different types of coronary heart disease (CHD). Methods　 Data of 180 patients with coronary heart disease treated in our hospital from December 2017 to December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were divided into ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction group (STEMI, n=61), stable type angina pectoris group (SAP, n=58) and control group (n=61) according to clinical manifestations and laboratory examinations. All patients underwent standard coronary angiography (CAG) examination. The SYNTAX score was used to assess the severity of coronary artery disease. Before CAG examination, 5 mL of peripheral venous blood was collected. After plasma was separated, the levels of NGAL, matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), homocysteine (Hcy) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the predictive value of plasma NGAL, MMP-9, Hcy and hs-CRP for high SYNTAX score (＞33 points). Results　Levels of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, white blood cells, MMP-9, hs-CRP and NGAL were significantly higher in STEMI group than those of SAP group and control group. The score of SYNTAX was significantly higher in STEMI group than that of SAP group. The LVEF was significantly lower in STEMI group than that of SAP group and control group (P＜0.05). The area under the curve predicted by NGAL for high SYNTAX scores was 0.890 (95%CI: 0.815-0.964), which was better than MMP-9 (0.851, 95%CI: 0.775-0.927), Hcy (0.554, 95%CI: 0.380-0.727) and hs-CRP (0.680, 95%CI: 0.523-0.838). Correlation analysis showed that SYNTAX score was positively correlated with NGAL (rs=0.426), MMP-9 (rs=0.434), hs-CRP (rs=0.184, all P＜0.05), and which was no significant correlation with Hcy (rs=0.096, P=0.647). Conclusion　NGAL is superior to MMP-9, Hcy and hs-CRP in predicting the severity of coronary stenosis in patients with coronary heart disease. NGAL as a new biomarker will help the risk stratification of patients with coronary heart disease.

Key words: coronary disease, matrix metalloproteinase 9, cysteine, neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin, SYNTAX score, predictive value