Background: Free radical production is elevated in jugular venous blood emerging from the brain in conjunction with carotid endarterectomy. This study explores the relationships between markers for lesion progression in arteriosclerosis, production of radicals and clinical characteristics.

Methods: The radical production during carotid endarterectomy was studied in 13 patients with an ex vivo spin trap method using OXANOH as a spin trap. MCP-1, ICAM-1, MMP-9 and oxLDL were determined in venous blood samples before, during and after clamping of the carotid artery. Principal component analysis (PCA) as well as partial least square regression analysis (PLS) was applied to interpret the data.

Results: PCA and PLS analysis revealed that high values of MMP-9 and low values of ICAM-1 were associated with high radical production whereas MCP-1 and oxLDL were not correlated to radical production. MMP-9 was elevated at diabetes, high haemoglobin, high leucocyte counts and thrombocyte counts as well as at contralateral stenosis, whereas ICAM-1 showed reversed relationships to these clinical variables. MCP-1 increased during surgery.

Conclusions: The main finding in our study is that MMP-9 in plasma is asscociated with radical production during carotid endarterectomy, suggesting that this enzyme might be involved in the pathogenesis of brain damage in conjunction with ischaemia-reperfusion.