Methods of Predicting and Treating Adverse Cardiac Events

Abstract

The invention provides methods for treatment of acute coronary syndrome and prediction of adverse cardiac events on the basis of elevations of catalytic iron in biological fluid of a human subject. An embodiment of the invention provides a method for early detection of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in a human subject at the time of presentation of the chest pain. The method includes analyzing a test sample of the biological fluid for amount of catalytic iron and detecting acute coronary syndrome in the human subject.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of treating an acute coronary syndrome in a human, comprising the step of administering an iron chelator to a human suspected of having an acute coronary syndrome, wherein an adverse cardiac event is reduced in the human suspected of having the acute coronary syndrome following administration of the iron chelator. 
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the human is administered the iron chelator until the acute coronary syndrome is no longer detected. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further including the steps of:
 a) measuring catalytic iron and at least one clinical indicia of the acute coronary syndrome in a first biological fluid sample obtained from the human; and   b) administering an additional iron chelator to the human if catalytic iron in the first biological fluid sample exceeds that of a control catalytic iron, or if at least one clinical indicia indicates the human is continuing to have the acute coronary syndrome following measurement of the catalytic iron and the clinical indicia of the acute coronary syndrome, thereby treating the acute coronary syndrome in the human.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the adverse cardiac event that is reduced following the administration of the iron chelator to the human is at least one member selected from the group consisting of death, heart failure, cardiogenic shock, unstable angina, myocardial infarction, reinfarction, stent thrombosis and blood vessel damage. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the clinical indicia of the acute coronary syndrome is at least one member selected from the group consisting of chest pain, abnormal electrocardiogram and elevated troponin I levels. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the first biological fluid sample is at least one member selected from the group consisting of a blood sample, a serum sample and a plasma sample. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the first biological fluid sample is obtained from the human about 0-6 hours after the human is suspected of having the acute coronary syndrome. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 3 , further including the step of obtaining a second biological fluid sample from the human about 24 hours after the first biological fluid sample is obtained. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the second biological fluid sample is at least one member selected from the group consisting of a blood sample, a serum sample and a plasma sample. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , further including the step of measuring catalytic iron in the second biological fluid sample, wherein an elevation in catalytic iron in the second biological fluid sample compared to catalytic iron in the first biological fluid sample indicates the human is continuing to have the acute coronary syndrome. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further including the step of administering the additional iron chelator to the human. 
     
     
         12 . A method of predicting an adverse cardiac event in a human suspected of having an adverse cardiac event, comprising the step of measuring catalytic iron in a first biological fluid sample obtained from the human suspected of having an adverse cardiac event, whereby an increase in catalytic iron in the first biological sample compared to catalytic iron in a control sample predicts that the human is having the adverse cardiac event.