Plasma cytokines as independent predictors of atherosclerosis in humans
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Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) integrate inflammatory and adipose signalling pathways. To test the hypothesis that plasma levels of IL-6 and soluble TNF-alpha receptor 2 (sol-TNFR2) were related to coronary atherosclerosis, independently of other known risk factors including the metabolic syndrome, the association of IL-6 and sol-TNFR2 with metabolic syndrome, C-reactive protein (CRP), and coronary artery calcification (CAC) was examined in 875 asymptomatic participants of the Inherited Risk of Coronary Atherosclerosis Study. Subjects with metabolic syndrome had 56% higher IL-6 levels and 16% higher TNFR2 levels (P < 0.001 for both) compared to subjects without metabolic syndrome. Both cytokines were associated with CAC, independently of known risk factors including the metabolic syndrome. As a matter of fact, in subjects with the metabolic syndrome, cytokine levels were independently associated with CAC scores and additive to insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) in predicting CAC. According to the authors, measurement of cytokine levels may become part of cardiovascular risk prediction tools, while being useful as response markers for monitoring therapeutic strategies.
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