Plasma levels of IL-6, IL-12 and TNF-α in patients with and without atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease

Abstract

Background: Some inflammatory cytokines have an important role in the development of atherosclerosis and therefore of cardiovascular disease. The objective of this study was to evaluate the plasma levels of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-12 and Tumor Necrosi Factor-α (TNF-α) in patients with cardiovascular risk factors with and without atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Methods: A total of 114 plasma samples of patients with ASCVD and age-matched non-heart failure controls with CVD risk-factors were included. We studied the association of inflammatory markers with cardiovascular risk factors. Performance of IL-6, IL-12 and TNF-α assay were compared with ASCVD risk score through receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results: Univariate analyses showed a statistically significant association with cardiovascular events for individuals > 76 years, dyslipidemia, and with high plasma levels of TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-12 that had a significance level of P< 0.05. After adjustment for other established ASCVD risk
factors, plasma levels of IL-6 (OR = 9.413, 95% CI 2.470-35.881, P=0.001) and TNF-α (OR = 14.914, 95% CI 3.544-62.758, P< 0.01) were proved to be independent predictors of ASCVD. Conclusions: Although plasma TNF-α and IL-6 are elevated in patients with some atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, its sensitivity and specificity for predicting ASCDV was limited.