La troponine is a protein substance which enters into the constitution of muscle fibers and regulates their contraction, including at the level of heart muscle.

It is a complex made up of three proteins: troponins I, -C and -T.

There are specific shapes of the heart for troponin T and I, which can detect cardiac damage.

The dosage of cardiac troponins allows:

• to detect a cardiac impairment,
• to stratify the risk (prognosis) in people who have undergone a acute coronary syndrome
• to diagnose a myocardial infarction (heart attack)

This dosage is therefore important for the diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutic monitoring of acute coronary syndromes, which refer to all the disorders occurring when one of the arteries supplying the heart (the coronary arteries) becomes blocked in whole or in part. . Myocardial infarction is one of them.

The dosage is carried out by means of a simple blood sample. The assay technique is based on antibodies that recognize the cardiac forms of the different troponins.

In the absence of a heart problem, the concentration of troponin in the blood is very low. It should be less than 0,6 μg / L (micrograms per liter).

Any increase in the level of troponin in the bloodstream is a sign of damage to the myocardium, the heart muscle. Following a heart attack or a decrease in the blood supply to the heart, heart cells necrotize and die, releasing troponins.

These are detectable in the blood 2-4 hours after the onset of myocardial distress.

Elevation of troponin in the blood can also be seen in:

• bypulmonary embolism,
• de myocardite (inflammation of the myocardium),
• bychronic heart failure,
• byend-stage renal disease