Introduction

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a disease caused by an inadequate supply of blood and oxygen to the myocardium. This condition made the oxygen demand higher than the oxygen supply to the myocardium, which occurred from the complete or partial occlusion of the coronary arteries lumen due to atherosclerotic plaque [1]. There are some conditions due to CAD, such as myocardial infarction (MI), stable angina, unstable angina, and also sudden death [2]. CAD is very common in both developed and develo** countries. Brown et al. estimated that CAD represented 2.2% of the overall global burden of disease and 32.7% of cardiovascular diseases [3]. According to the latest WHO data published in 2020, CAD is the second leading cause of death in Indonesia with death cases reaching 259,297 or 15.33% of total deaths. The age-adjusted death rate is 125.99 per 100,000 of the population in Indonesia is ranked 70 in the world [4]. If the coronary arteries are seriously blocked, blood flow may not be adequate for any increased demand, such as that of exercise or an emotional upset.

When there is complete occlusion which makes myocardial cells necrosis, it will become myocardial infarction (MI) and might show the ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) pattern in ECG [5]. Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) still becomes an important treatment for STEMI. PCI could open up the infarct-related artery and prevent re-occlusion. However, in the real world, after being transferred to the PCI center, many patients have missed the optimal PCI time or even refused the PCI, especially in develo** countries including Indonesia [6, 7]. This condition is caused by many reasons such as chest pain denial, poor access to the PCI center, poor economic condition, and refusal to be done by PCI procedure. However, there are controversies regarding the benefit of late PCI (12-48 hours after onset of STEMI) in stable patients, since the current publications showed different results [7]. That is why this study included patients with the onset of STEMI between 12 and 48 h.

Besides the results in the No Revas group already suggest the benefit of colchicine in reducing MMP-9, NOX2, and TGF-β1, the analysis in both late PCI groups is still not significant. If we compare the level of biomarkers in Fig. 2, the trends showed that the PCI + Colchicine group had lower MMP-9, NOX2, and TGF-β1 levels than the PCI + Placebo group. These results may happen because of the PCI intervention, since it may develop Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury (IRI) in the acute phase. IRI is a term used to describe the functional and structural abnormalities that occur when blood flow is restored after a period of ischemia. In addition to reversing ischemia, the restoration of blood flow can result in potentially highly damaging side effects, such as necrosis of irreversibly injured cells, significant cell swelling, and nonuniform flow restoration to all tissue regions [34].

IRI initially mobilizes neutrophils via chemotaxis and endothelial adhesion, CD4 + T cells, and circulating platelets in the vascular space. Neutrophils induce the generation of tissue-damaging reactive oxygen species (ROS), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and local inflammatory mediators [35]. CD4 + T lymphocytes produce macrophage-stimulating factors, interferon-gamma, and TNF- α, which augment macrophage activation and cytokine release [35]. Furthermore, re-oxygenation increases the number of oxygen free radicals in the parenchymal, endothelial, and lymphocytic cells that infiltrate the lesion. The production of superoxide anions is due to the inadequate reduction of oxygen by damaged mitochondria and the action of neutrophils, endothelial cells, or parenchymal cells.

These processes lead to the formation of free radicals, which are unstable molecules that destabilize inorganic and organic substances and cause cell damage [36]. The activation of ROS and inflammation process in IRI increases the level of MMP-9, NOX2, and TGF-β1. The results may not be significant because the data extraction happens in Day-1 and Day-5 (acute phase). Therefore, further research is needed to confirm whether higher doses of colchicine may reduce MMP-9, NOX2, and TGF-β1 or not, since the results in the No Revas group (without IRI).

Conclusion

Colchicine could significantly reduce MMP-9, NOX2, and TGF-β1 levels in stable STEMI patients. So that, colchicine could be a potential agent in STEMI patients and prevent cardiac remodeling events.