Introduction: Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is primarily used as a marker for hepatic or bony diseases. Recent in vitro experimental studies have shown a link between ALP and vascular calcification. ALP catalyzes hydrolysis of organic pyrophosphate which is an inhibitor of vascular calcification. This study was conducted as a step forward to those in vitro experimental findings to look whether ALP has any association with coronary artery disease or not. Material and Methods: It was a cross sectional study. Triple vessel disease patients (n=31) admitted for bypass surgery were taken as cases and age and gender matched healthy persons were taken as controls (n=30). Serum ALP estimation was done by PNPP kinetic method using the commercially available kit Cobas 10816388 on the automated chemistry analyser Hitachi 912. Data is presented as mean ± SD. Statistical analysis was done on SPSS 21. P-value <0.05 was taken as significant. Results: The mean ALP level was significantly higher in cases (ALP=228±46.5 IU/L) as compared to controls (ALP=175.6±40.8 IU/L) (p <0.0001). In multiple logistic regression analysis ALP shows a significant and independent association with the prevalence of CAD (p<0.05). Conclusion: Our result shows an independent association between serum alkaline phosphatase level and coronary artery disease exists. ALP can be considered as a novel marker for coronary artery disease. However, to confirm the findings further prospective studies with larger sample size are needed.
