Plasma cyclic adenosine 3'5'-monophosphate (AMP) levels in acute myocardial infarction

Plasma cyclic adenosine 3′5′-monophosphate (AMP) levels were measured in 44 patients with acute myocardial infarction, 33 patients with other cardiac and noncardiac diseases and 20 normal volunteers. The normal range of cyclic AMP was 4 to 16 picomoles/ml. The 35 surviving patients with acute myocardial infarction tended to have a slightly increased level of plasma cyclic AMP during the first 24 hours with a subsequent return to normal; the 9 nonsurvivors had abnormally high levels of cyclic AMP. An inverse correlation was found between cyclic AMP levels and stroke work index, and plasma cyclic AMP levels were of equal or better prognostic value than stroke work index. Plasma cyclic AMP levels were in the normal range in patients without acute myocardial infarction. Thus, very high levels of plasma cyclic AMP, found in patients with fatal myocardial infarction, appear to have clinical significance.