Inflammation and Extracellular Matrix Genes Differentially Expressed Following Overlapping Zotarolimus- and Sirolimus-Eluting Stent Implantation

An unanticipated complication of the use of bare metal stents in percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty is in-stent restenosis resulting in >50% late lumen diameter loss in treated patients. In an effort to reduce in-stent restenosis, drug eluting stents containing the immunosuppressant sirolimus or zotarolimus have recently been developed. We report here the molecular response of arterial tissue to the implanting of these drug-eluting stents. Gene expression profiling was performed on 4 artery segments surrounding bare metal stents (BMS), 4 artery segments surrounding sirolimus-eluting stents (SES), and 4 artery segments surrounding zotarolimus-eluting stents (ZES) implanted into porcine animal models for 28 days.