Zirlik Andreas, Abdullah Shuaib M, Gerdes Norbert, MacFarlane Lindsey, Schönbeck Uwe, Khera Amit, McGuire Darren K, Vega Gloria L, Grundy Scott, Libby Peter, de Lemos James A
Donald W. Reynolds Centers of the Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass, USA.
Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2007 Sep;27(9):2043-9. doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.107.149484. Epub 2007 Jul 12.
Although IL-18 promotes atherogenesis in animal studies and predicts cardiovascular risk in humans, it is unknown whether elevated IL-18 levels are associated with coronary atherosclerosis in the general population.
IL-18 plasma levels were determined by ELISA in 2231 subjects from the Dallas Heart Study. In univariable analysis, IL-18 levels associated with traditional cardiovascular risk factors and particularly with components of the metabolic syndrome (MS, P<0.01 for trend across the number of MS components); IL-18 also associated with coronary artery calcium (CAC) scores measured by electron beam computed tomography and aortic plaque measured by MRI (P<0.01 for each). In multivariable analyses, IL-18 remained associated with multiple components of the MS but not with CAC or aortic plaque.
In a large population-based sample, elevated IL-18 plasma levels associated with risk factors for atherosclerosis and with the metabolic syndrome. The association between IL-18 and atherosclerosis diminished after accounting for traditional cardiovascular risk factors. These data suggest that IL-18 does not add independently to detection of atherosclerotic burden in asymptomatic individuals.
尽管在动物研究中白细胞介素-18（IL-18）可促进动脉粥样硬化形成，且能预测人类心血管风险，但在普通人群中，IL-18水平升高是否与冠状动脉粥样硬化相关尚不清楚。
采用酶联免疫吸附测定法（ELISA）测定了达拉斯心脏研究中2231名受试者的血浆IL-18水平。在单变量分析中，IL-18水平与传统心血管危险因素相关，特别是与代谢综合征（MS）的各组分相关（MS组分数量的趋势分析，P<0.01）；IL-18还与电子束计算机断层扫描测量的冠状动脉钙化（CAC）评分以及磁共振成像测量的主动脉斑块相关（每项P<0.01）。在多变量分析中，IL-18仍与MS的多个组分相关，但与CAC或主动脉斑块无关。
在一个基于大样本人群的样本中，血浆IL-18水平升高与动脉粥样硬化危险因素及代谢综合征相关。在考虑传统心血管危险因素后，IL-18与动脉粥样硬化之间的关联减弱。这些数据表明，IL-18并不能独立增加无症状个体动脉粥样硬化负担的检测。
