Effects of Losartan on serum level of interleukin-18 in patients with chronic heart failure

【Objective】To study the effects of Losartan on serum level of interleukin-18(IL-18) in pa-tients with chronic heart failure(CHF).【Methods】 76 patients with CHF were divided into CHF control group(n =39) and CHF treatment group(n =37),and another 28 healthy adults were selected as normal con-trol group.Patients in the CHF control group were given conventional medicine treatment such as Digoxin,Diuretics,Nitrates and so on.Patients in the CHF treatment group were given orally Losartan(50 mg/day) for six months besides conventional medicine treatment.Left ventricular end-diastolic diameter(LVEDD),left ven-tricular ejection fraction(LVEF),the level of high sensitivity C-reactive protein(hs-CRP) and IL-18 were e-valuated in all subjects before and after treatment.【Results】Compared to those in the normal control group,LVEDD,LVEF,hs-CRP and IL-18 were significantly different(P 0.05) in the both CHF control group and CHF treatment group before treatment,and LVEF is negative related to level of IL-18(R=-0.41,P 0.05).Although there was no change for LVEDD(P 0.05) after treatment for six months in the both CHF control group and CHF treatment group,LVEF were improved(P 0.05) and hs-CRP and IL-18 were significantly de-creased(P 0.05).After treatment for six months,LVEF was higher and hs-CRP and IL-18 were significantly lower(P 0.05) in the CHF treatment group compared to those in the CHF control group.【Conclusion】Losar-tan can improve heart function of patients with CHF by decreasing serum level of IL-18 and alleviating in-flammatory reaction.