In people having a heart attack called STEMI, the amount of a protein called PLIN2 in certain blood cells is higher than in people with stable heart disease, which might be related to why their heart attack happened.

In people with heart disease, older patients tend to have higher levels of PLIN2 protein in their blood cells, and this relationship is stronger in those with stable heart disease than in those having a heart attack.

The types and amounts of fats inside blood cells were similar between people having a heart attack and those with stable heart disease, even though the PLIN2 protein levels were different between these groups.

In people with stable heart disease, older age is more strongly linked to higher PLIN2 protein levels than in people having a heart attack, suggesting age might affect PLIN2 differently in different types of heart disease.

In people with stable heart disease, when the proteasome (a cellular cleanup system) is more active, there's less PLIN2 protein present, but this relationship doesn't hold for people having a heart attack.

In people having a heart attack, PLIN2 protein stays high even though the cellular cleanup system (proteasome) is more active, suggesting there might be special reasons why PLIN2 isn't being broken down properly during a heart attack.