Changes in various forms of fibronectin in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting with cardiopulmonary bypass

Coronary heart disease is one of the most common lifestyle diseases and one of the treatment methods is coronary artery bypass grafting. The use of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) during this procedure is associated with the transient activation of a systemic inflammatory response and may lead to several intra-and postoperative complications. Fibronectin (FN), an adhesive glycoprotein that is a key component of the extracellular matrix, is widely distributed in human body fluids. It is one of the endogenous mediators involved in both the inflammatory response and coagulation. We aimed to detect changes in the level of fibronectin and its possible fragmentation or forming of complexes with fibrine during coronary artery bypass grafting with cardiopulmonary bypass. Our results indicate that the CPB procedure is associated with significant changes in levels of fibronectin. Elevated levels after surgery, as well as slight increases in the amount of FN degradation products in relation to the duration of CPB may suggest that these increases are related to extracellular matrix remodeling resulting from cardiac surgery and the initiation of repair processes. The results indicate that fibronectin has clinical potential as a marker of repair processes.