Background
Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is most commonly defined as unexpected death from a cardiac cause within a limited time period, generally <1 h from symptom onset [
1]. SCD resulting from acute myocardial infarction (AMI) constitutes a significant percentage of the caseload for forensic and clinical pathologists [
2]. AMI is defined in pathology as myocardial cell death due to prolonged ischemia [
3]. Patients presenting with symptoms of AMI are often subject to a standardized battery of tests, including a radiological examination, an electrocardiogram, and blood samples submitted for cardiac markers, such as cardiac troponin (cTn) and creatine kinase MB (CK-MB). Unfortunately, the postmortem diagnosis of AMI for forensic and clinical pathologists is difficult. Myocardial cell death does not occur instantaneously at the onset of ischemia, but takes at least 6 h before myocardial necrosis can be identified by standard macroscopic or microscopic postmortem examination, depending on the sensitivity of the cardiomyocytes [
4]. Although many markers and various techniques have been introduced for postmortem diagnosis of AMI, currently, there is neither a marker nor a technique in routine medicolegal use that can solve this problem satisfactorily [
4‐
6].
S100A1, a dimeric Ca
2+-binding protein of the EF-hand type, belongs to the S100 protein family [
7]. As a low molecular weight protein (~10.5 kDa) with a specific tissue distribution [
8], S100A1 is preferentially abundant in the heart, especially ventricular cardiomyocytes [
9], although it is also found in lower amounts in skeletal muscle, blood vessels, brain, and kidney [
10‐
12]. A compelling body of evidence has disclosed a role for S100A1 as a critical regulator of cardiomyocyte Ca
2+ cycling, energy homeostasis, and excitation-contraction coupling. S100A1 is especially interesting with respect to cardiovascular diseases because downregulation of S100A1 protein critically contributes to the progressive contractile dysfunction of the diseased heart and cardiac-related death [
13,
14]. Shortly after ischemic myocardial damage in humans, S100A1 appears in the serum, rising rapidly after the clinical onset [
15,
16].
Because of S100A1’s specific and differential expression in the heart and relationship to acute ischemic heart disease, we tested its performance as a diagnostic indicator of AMI. In the present study, we constructed a rat myocardial infarction model to investigate the temporal and spatial distribution of S100A1 in cardiomyocytes and S100A1 plasma concentrations after AMI. Immunohistochemical staining for S100A1 in definite infarction, suspected early infarction, and normal human hearts was also performed to test its practical feasibility.
Materials and methods
Experimental animals
Healthy Sprague–Dawley rats (250–300 g) of either sex provided by the Laboratory Animal Department of Hebei Medical University were used for the study. The rats were bred and cared for under standard laboratory conditions, and had ad libitum access to food and water. All animal procedures were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. The following groups of rats were studied to evaluate depletion of S100A1 in cardiomyocytes and the leakage of cytoplasmic S100A1 into the blood circulation after AMI: (1) sham-operated group (n = 10); (2) 15 min after left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) occlusion (n = 10); (3) 30 min after LAD occlusion (n = 10); (4) 1 h after LAD occlusion (n = 10); (5) 2 h after LAD occlusion (n = 10); (6) 4 h after LAD occlusion (n = 10); and (7) 6 h after LAD occlusion (n = 10).
Experimental induction of myocardial infarction
The animal model of AMI was induced surgically by permanent ligation of the LAD as previously described [
17]. Animals were anesthetized with 350 mg/kg chloral hydrate, intubated, and ventilated with an animal ventilator (Model ALC-V8, China). Following thoracotomy, the pericardium was carefully opened, avoiding any injury to the heart, and the LAD was ligated with a 6/0 silk suture by piercing the pericardial membrane. Successful ligation was tested by visual inspection for pallor of the involved myocardium and ST segment elevation ≥0.1 mv on an electrocardiogram. The thorax was closed in layers, and the lungs were reinflated using positive end-expiratory pressure. The endotracheal tube was removed and the animals were returned to normal respiration. The sham-operated animals were treated similar to the study groups, except that they did not receive LAD ligation. After a blood sample was collected, rats ware humanely sacrificed under general anesthesia at various ischemia intervals. The hearts were harvested and fixed in a 4% phosphate-buffered (pH 7.4) formaldehyde solution over 24 h. The samples were sequentially dehydrated with an alcohol series and embedded in paraffin wax. Five-micrometer sections were prepared from paraffin blocks and stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E).
Autopsy material
Paraffin-embedded myocardial tissue blocks were obtained from 30 autopsies performed between 2009 and 2013 at the Department of Forensic Medicine of Hebei Medical University. The age at autopsy ranged from 22 to 78 years (mean, 51 years) and the postmortem intervals varied from 8 to 72 h. Myocardial tissues for examination were taken from the anterior part of the left ventricle, including the zone of definite or possible infarction. The cases were divided into three groups as follows. (1) Group 1 included 10 cases of definite AMI, which was proven at gross examination (coronary occlusion) and at conventional histology with H&E (necrotic clotting, multifocal patches of wavy fibers, contraction band necrosis, and marginal rearrangement reactions with early inflammatory infiltrate). (2) Group 2 included 10 cases of acute traumatic death, which were selected among victims of traffic accidents with immediate lethal craniocerebral injuries or falls from height with no or minimal signs of coronary atherosclerosis. (3) Group 3 included 10 cases of suspected early myocardial infarction, and met the following criteria: (i) death occurred within 6 h from the onset of symptoms, which indicated AMI clinically; (ii) the subjects had a moderate or severe degree of coronary atherosclerosis at autopsy, but none of them had macroscopic or microscopic (H&E staining) evidence of myocardial infarction; and (iii) no other explainable causes of death were found through a systemic examination, including systemic autopsy and toxicological analysis.
Hematoxylin-basic fuchsin-picric acid (HBFP) staining
To confirm early myocardial ischemic damage, 5-μm sections were prepared and stained by HBFP staining [
18], which stained ischemic cardiomyocytes crimson red and normal cardiomyocytes yellow.
Immunohistochemical staining for S100A1
Immunohistochemical staining of 5-μm sections was performed using the Two-step IHC Detection Reagent (ZSGB-BIO, China). Briefly, after being treated with microwave antigen retrieval (0.1 M citrate buffer solution, pH 6.0) for 5 min, sections were pre-treated with 0.3% H2O2 in methanol for 30 min to inhibit endogenous peroxidase activity. Blocking solution with 10% goat serum (Boster, China) was then applied to the sections for 30 min at room temperature to minimize non-specific staining. Subsequently, they were incubated overnight at 4°C with polyclonal rabbit anti-S100A1 (BS1318, Bioworld, USA) at a dilution of 1:600. PBS was used to replace S100A1 antibody as the negative staining control. Labeling was identified by application of a goat anti-rabbit IgG/horseradish peroxidase secondary antibody (PV-6001, ZSGB-BIO, China) at 37°C for 30 min. Peroxidase activity was visualized using a DAB kit (ZSGB-BIO, China). The reaction was stopped by rinsing in PBS. Sections were weakly counterstained with hematoxylin. Finally, the slides were dehydrated, placed in an aqueous-based mounting medium, and examined by light microscopy.
Immunoassay for S100A1
Blood samples were collected via retro-orbital sinus puncture with a capillary tube before rats were sacrificed. The blood samples were centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 20 min at 4°C, and the serum was then separated and stored at -80°C until later assay. Serum concentrations of S100A1 were measured using an ELISA kit (Hebei Bio-high Technology, China) according to the manufacturer’s protocol. Briefly, 50 μl of the biotinylated antibody against rat S100A1 and 50 μl of either the diluted plasma or the S100A1 standards were added to the precoated plate. After incubation for 2 h at room temperature, the wells were washed five times with wash buffer followed by the addition of 50 μl streptavidin-HRP. After incubation for an additional 2 h at room temperature, the washing steps were then repeated as described above, followed by adding 100 μl of substrate solution to each well. The microplate was allowed to stand for 30 min at room temperature in the dark. The reaction was stopped by adding 50 μl stop solution and the absorbance at 450 nm was measured using an ELx800 Absorbance Microplate Reader (BIO-TEK Instruments, Inc., USA). S100A1 concentrations for each sample were calculated from a standard curve.
Statistical analysis
Data are described as the median (interquartile range). Statistical analyses were performed by the Kruskal-Wallis H test, followed by comparison between any two groups using SPSS 13.0 software. P values lower than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.
Discussion
The most common clinical finding associated with SCD is coronary artery disease (CAD) and approximately 80% of SCDs are attributed to this disease condition [
19]. Another 10% to 15% of SCDs result from cardiomyopathies, such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy [
20], and myocardial infiltrative diseases. The remaining 5% to 10% are composed of structurally abnormal congenital cardiac conditions (i.e., coronary artery abnormalities [
21,
22]), cardiac channelopathies and relatively rare diseases such as cardiac beriberi caused by Thiamine deficiency [
23]. CAD associated with occlusion of one or more major coronary arteries is likely to result in ventricular tachyarrhythmia. This arrhythmia, if untreated, will eventually degenerate into ventricular fibrillation, which is the underlying mechanism in the overwhelming majority of SCDs [
19,
24]. AMI is generally the result of CAD. When sudden death occurs at an early stage of AMI (< 6 h from the onset of symptoms to death), myocardial cell death cannot easily be detected by routine histologic techniques, such as H&E staining. These individuals die before pathological changes can develop in the myocardium, and it is difficult for the clinical and forensic pathologists to say with certainty whether these patients succumbed to AMI.
Irreversible cardiomyocyte injury in AMI can be recognized by the appearance of cardiac proteins in the bloodstream, which are released into the circulation from injured cardiomyocytes, because of increased permeability of the myocardial cell membrane associated with severe ischemia [
25]. The temporal release pattern of these cellular proteins is dependent on the extent of hypoxia, their subcellular localization, and their physicochemical characteristics, especially molecular weight. Therefore, cellular antigens, such as MB [
4], cTnI [
26], and H-FABP [
17], can indicate early myocardial infarction based on the loss of staining in infarcted areas.
Given the low molecular weight and specific tissue distribution of S100A1, S100A1 may leak from damaged cardiomyocytes into the bloodstream of patients with AMI. Therefore, S100A1 could be used as a “negative marker” to discern ischemic-damaged myocardial cells from normal cells, which could be helpful for postmortem diagnosis of AMI. Previous studies [
15,
16] have shown that serum S100A1 concentrations are significantly elevated after AMI and have higher sensitivity and specificity than MB and cTnI within the early hours (0–6 h) of the onset of myocardial infarction. The prompt release of S100A1 into the bloodstream most likely reflects irreversible changes in cardiomyocytes due to hypoxia. However, little is known regarding the expression pattern of S100A1 in ischemic cardiomyocyte lesions.
In the present study, immunohistochemical results of the AMI animal model showed that as early as 15 min after myocardial ischemia, S100A1 depletion was detected in the subendocardial layer and papillary muscles, which was in agreement with the positively stained areas of HBFP. When the ischemic time was prolonged, this depletion was increasingly evident. By 4 h after ligation, the staining showed well- demarcated areas of complete depletion of cytoplasmic staining of S100A1 in the left ventricle within the LAD supply region. Our results showed a time-dependent depletion of S100A1 after AMI. Additionally, depletion of S100A1 from cardiomyocytes in infarcted areas at various post-infarction intervals showed an early identical pattern with that of H-FABP [
17]. These results strongly suggest that depletion of S100A1 staining in cardiomyocytes can be used as a sensitive and reliable marker for AMI.
ELISA results showed a prolonged increase in serum S100A1 concentrations, providing evidence that S100A1 is released from injured cardiomyocytes after AMI. Kiewitz et al. [
16] demonstrated that the concentration-time course of S100A1 is distinct from that of the “classical” biochemical markers CK, CKMB, and cTnI, showing an early rise and a fast decline in plasma after the ischemic event. The sensitivity of S100A1 between 0 and 6 h is significantly higher than that from 6 to 12 h compared with cTnI. The present study showed that S100A1 plasma concentrations were low in the sham-operated group, but they were significantly higher as early as 15 min after occlusion of the rat LAD than those in the sham-operated group, indicating its high diagnostic sensitivity for AMI. Moreover, S100A1 plasma concentrations increased with ischemia, and reached a peak after 6 h, which was consistent with the results of IHC. This finding suggests that plasma S100A1 concentrations are in direct proportion to the extent of ischemic cardiomyocyte injury.
In the autopsy material, the efficacy of S100A1 for detection of ischemic cardiomyocyte lesions appeared to be satisfactory. All cases of definite AMI showed well-defined areas with a significant reduction or total loss of S100A1 expression. In group 2, eight of 10 cases with the conclusion of “possible AMI” showed massive or patchy depletion of S100A1. In only two cases (cases 3 and 10), because of the short duration from the onset of symptoms to death (30 min), S100A1 expression was only lost in a few disseminated cells. These S100A1 immunostaining results indicated that depletion of S100A1 could be detected as early as 30 min after ischemic lesions in the human heart. This finding strongly suggests that depletion of S100A1 from cardiomyocytes is a useful marker for the postmortem diagnosis of AMI for forensic and clinical pathologists.
No single immunohistochemical reaction is ideal for the postmortem diagnosis of AMI, and a reasonable combination of several markers can provide sufficient evidence of myocardial necrosis, supporting the final diagnosis. Our study results indicate that evaluation of immunohistochemical expression of S100A1 can complement the presently used markers to improve the postmortem diagnosis of AMI.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Authors’ contributions
HTB carried out IHC staining and wrote the manuscript. YY carried out the ELISA experiments. JYH participated in IHC staining. YML performed the statistical analysis and participated in evaluation of IHC. CLM was responsible for critical revision of the manuscript and was involved in drafting it. BC conceived the study, participated in its design, and helped draft and edit the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.