These findings support using cTnI/T and CPK as reliable clinical correlates for CK-MB estimation in post MI evaluation, especially when laboratory access is limited.
In a retrospective cohort of 102 first-time MI patients from multiple Saudi hospitals, mean CK-MB levels were similar in males and females, with a slightly higher mean in males.
Other cardiac and inflammatory markers also showed wide variability across the cohort.
In univariable linear regression, CK-MB was strongly positively associated with cTnI/T, which explained the largest share of variance among the three predictors.
In univariable regression, CK-MB was also positively associated with total CPK.
In univariable regression, CK-MB was positively associated with CRP, but with a weaker explanatory power than cTnI/T or CPK.
In the multivariable model, cTnI/T and CPK remained independent predictors of CK-MB, while CRP lost statistical significance.
The authors conclude that cTnI/T and CPK can serve as reliable clinical correlates for estimating CK-MB in post-MI evaluation where CK-MB assays are unavailable.
This study looked at records of 102 patients in Saudi hospitals who had a first heart attack. The researchers asked whether CK-MB, a blood marker of heart muscle damage that some labs cannot measure, could be estimated from other blood tests that are more widely available: troponin I/T, total creatine phosphokinase (CPK), and C-reactive protein (CRP, a marker of inflammation). Troponin and CPK both tracked closely with CK-MB. Troponin explained the most (about 58% of the variation in CK-MB), followed by CPK (about 47%). CRP was also linked to CK-MB, but more weakly (about 20%). When all three were considered together, troponin and CPK each remained independently linked to CK-MB, while CRP no longer added useful information. This research suggests that in places where CK-MB testing is not available, troponin and CPK results might help approximate CK-MB levels after a heart attack. The study was retrospective, small (102 patients), and used linear regression, and CK-MB levels varied widely between patients. The findings therefore show an association rather than a validated replacement test, and they would need confirmation in larger studies.
Alzain M, AlSieni M, Mehanna M, Sheikh R, Al-Abbasi F, Alshamhani A, et al.. (2026). Clinical predictive modeling of CK-MB using troponin I/T and CPK in patients post myocardial infarction.. Indian journal of pharmacology. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijp.ijp_169_26