Inflammatory factors in the serum of patients with acute coronary syndrome:Changes and their implications

Objective Recent views hold atherosclerosis to be an active inflammatory process rather than a simple lipid infiltration.This study was to investigate the changes in the levels of serum IL-6,IL-10,IL-6/IL-10,TNF-α and HsCRP and their implications in patients with acute coronary syndrome(ACS).Methods A total of 189 patients undergoing coronary angiography(CAG) were assigned to a control group(n=60) and an ACS group(n=129) according to the results of CAG,the latter including 66 cases of acute myocardial infarction(AMI) and 63 cases of unstable angina(UA).The levels of serum IL-6,IL-10 and TNF-α were measured by ELISA,and that of HsCRP determined by immunityturbidimetry.Result The level of serum IL-6 was significantly more activated in the ACS group(6.38±2.52 ng/L,P0.01) as well as in the subgroups of AMI(4.84±8.74 ng/L) and UA(2.57±2.87 ng/L) than in the control group(1.62±1.71 ng/L,P0.05).So was the level of IL-10 in the AMI(17.56±2.08 ng/L) and UA patients(16.84±2.74 ng/L) than in the controls(15.69±1.78 ng/L,P0.05),but with no significant difference between AMI and UA(P0.05).The ratio of IL-6/IL-10 was significantly higher in the AMI(0.27±0.48 ng/L) and UA patients(0.22±0.17 ng/L) than in the controls(0.10±0.09 ng/L,P0.05).So was the level of TNF-α(44.56±30.62 pg/ml and 41.12±24.34 pg/ml vs 28.61±17.52 pg/ml,P0.05),but with no significant difference between AMI and UA(P0.05).The same was true for the level of HsCRP(25.5±29.5 mg/L and 9.93±11.05 mg/L vs 4.02±4.29 mg/L,P0.05).In the ACS patients,the level of serum IL-6 was positively correlated with that of HsCRP(r=0.395,P0.05) and that of TNF(r=0.249,P0.05).Conclusion Changes in the levels of L-6/IL-10,TNF-α and HsCRP are correlated with ACS,and may have a predictive value for its plaque instability.