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Haji-Abolhasan Varaminfard M, Ebrahimi-Rad M, Javadian S, Beheshti Monfared M, Sadati Khalili S F, Saghiri R. Comparison of serum levels of zinc, copper, and selenium between patients with coronary artery disease and healthy controls: Selenium could be a new diagnostic biomarker. mljgoums 2026; 20 (2) :19-22
URL: http://mlj.goums.ac.ir/article-1-1770-en.html
Comparison of serum levels of zinc, copper, and selenium between patients with coronary artery disease and healthy controls: Selenium could be a new diagnostic biomarker
Mahrooyeh Haji-Abolhasan Varaminfard1 , Mina Ebrahimi-Rad2 , Seifoddin Javadian2 , Mahmood Beheshti Monfared3 , Seyedeh Fatemeh Sadati Khalili4 , Reza Saghiri5
1- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran
2- Department of Biochemistry, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
3- Department Cardiovascular, Modarres Hospital, Tehran, Iran
4- Department of Biochemistry, CT.C, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
5- Department of Biochemistry, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran , reza_saghiri@yahoo.com
Abstract:   (3316 Views)
Background: Although several clinical and laboratory diagnostic approaches have been developed for coronary artery disease (CAD), rates of mortality and morbidity remain high, possibly because of limitations in existing diagnostic markers. Here, we evaluated the serum levels of selected trace elements (Zn, Se, and Cu) in CAD patients and healthy subjects and assessed their diagnostic values in CAD.
Methods: 53 cardiologist-approved CAD patients and 48 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were recruited. Serum levels of Zn, Se, and Cu were assessed using the atomic absorption method. GraphPad v.8.4 and SPSS v.18 software were used for statistical analyses.
Results: Serum levels of Zn and Se were significantly lower in CAD patients than in controls (P = 0.0008 and P < 0.0001, respectively). In contrast, CAD patients showed significantly higher Cu levels (P = 0.0064). Regarding the ROC curve analyses, the area under the curve (AUC) for Zn was 0.6563 (P = 0.0069). Setting the cut-off value at 1.255 μg/mL yielded a sensitivity of 56.60%, specificity of 66.67%, and likelihood ratio (LR) of 1.698. The AUC for Se was 0.8595 (P<0.0001). The optimum cut-off value of 86.50 ng/ml yielded a sensitivity of 83.02%, specificity of 75.00%, and LR of 3.321. The AUC for Cu was 0.6557 (P = 0.0071). The optimum cut-off value of 1.225 μg/mL yielded a sensitivity of 62.26%, specificity of 64.58%, and LR of 1.758.
Conclusion: Our study showed that selenium may be a biomarker with reliable diagnostic value for CAD.
Keywords: Trace Elements, Coronary Artery Disease, Lipid profile, Diagnostic marker
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Research Article: Original Paper | Subject: Biochemistry
Received: 2024/01/5 | Accepted: 2025/02/23 | Published: 2026/04/25 | ePublished: 2026/04/25
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