To seek differentially expressed plasma proteins of unstable angina patients with blood stasis syndrome, two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry were used to screen the differentially expressed plasma proteins among such patients with blood stasis syndrome and healthy volunteers. Fibrinogen β chain, fibrinogen γ chain, α1-antitrypsin, haptoglobin β chain, haptoglobin α2 chain were significantly highly expressed in the plasma of these patients, while ApoA-IV, ApoA-I, transthyretin and ApoJ were decreased in their plasma. These identified increased expressed proteins could be divided into three categories according to their functions: (1) acute phase reactive protein, (2) apolipoprotein, (3) blood coagulation protein. Unstable angina with blood stasis syndrome may be correlated with inflammatory reaction, lipid metabolic disorder and blood coagulation factor abnormality, and these differentially expressed proteins could provide clues for the study of unstable angina biomarkers and discovery of new protein targets for antianginal drugs.

Key words: unstable angina, blood stasis syndrome, difference gel electrophoresis (DIGE), proteome, biomarker