Analysis of serum cardiac troponin T profiles obtained by MALDI mass spectrometry in healthy and diseased subjects [Analisi dei profili della troponina T cardiaca ottenuti con spettrometria di massa MALDI nel siero di soggetti sani e malati]

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Cardiac troponin I and T (cTnT) represent the most sensitive and specific markers for the diagnosis and prognosis of myocardial injury. Technological advancements have made possible to develop a new generation of high sensitive assays able to early identify the myocardial injury. The objective of this study was to analyze sera from healthy controls (n=10; cTnT < 14 ng/L; group A), patients with cTnT ranging from 14 ng/L to < 50 ng/L (n=10; group B) and AMI patients (n=11; cTnT > 50 ng/L; group C), by MALDI mass spectometry to identify specific profiles discriminating patients from controls. MALDI spectra showed different serum low-abundant low molecular protein profiles in the 3 analyzed groups. In particular, 6 dysregulated peaks (P-value < 0.05) discriminate group B from C.