Endocan as a Novel Biomarker for Endothelial Dysfunction and Cardiovascular Prognosis in ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction: A Contemporary Literature Review
Bibliographic record
Abstract
The pathophysiology of ST-elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI) extends beyond coronary artery occlusion to include microvascular and endothelial dysfunction, both of which critically influence outcomes. Endocan, a soluble dermatan sulfate proteoglycan secreted by endothelial cells, has emerged as a novel biomarker of endothelial activation and dysfunction. Recent studies suggest that elevated endocan levels may carry prognostic significance in patients with STEMI, particularly those undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). A comprehensive search of PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar was conducted to identify studies evaluating endocan as a prognostic biomarker in STEMI. Review articles, case reports, case series, and experimental studies were excluded. Seven clinical studies, comprising sample sizes ranging from 80 to 320 patients, met the inclusion criteria. Across these studies, endocan levels were analyzed in relation to established prognostic markers and clinical outcomes. Key findings demonstrated that higher endocan levels correlated with stress hyperglycemia (r = 0.21, p < 0.05), higher SYNTAX scores, and worse in-hospital outcomes. A cutoff value of 1.7 ng/mL predicted STEMI with 76.1% sensitivity and 73.6% specificity. Elevated endocan levels also showed positive correlations with the TIMI risk score, major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), and were identified as independent predictors of incomplete ST-segment resolution (STR) (p = 0.044) and no-reflow phenomenon (NRP) (p < 0.001, OR = 2.39, 95% CI = 1.37–4.15). Collectively, the evidence indicates that endocan is strongly associated with endothelial dysfunction, MACE, NRP post-PCI, and impaired reperfusion. Moreover, traditional prognostic indices such as TIMI and SYNTAX scores appear to correlate with circulating endocan levels. However, variability in reported cutoff values across studies highlights the need for larger, multicenter trials with standardized endpoints to establish endocan’s diagnostic and prognostic utility in STEMI.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.002 | 0.005 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.003 | 0.002 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.008 | 0.010 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.002 | 0.002 |
| Open science | 0.002 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.003 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".