Cytokine Disturbances in Coronary Artery Ectasia Do Not Support Atherosclerosis Pathogenesis.

BACKGROUND

Coronary artery ectasia (CAE) is a rare disorder commonly associated with additional features of atherosclerosis. In the present study, we aimed to examine the systemic immune-inflammatory response that might associate CAE.

METHODS

Plasma samples were obtained from 16 patients with coronary artery ectasia (mean age 64.9 ± 7.3 years, 6 female), 69 patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and angiographic evidence for atherosclerosis (age 64.5 ± 8.7 years, 41 female), and 140 controls (mean age 58.6 ± 4.1 years, 40 female) with normal coronary arteries. Samples were analyzed at Umeå University Biochemistry Laboratory, Sweden, using the V-PLEX Pro-Inflammatory Panel 1 (human) Kit. Statistically significant differences ( < 0.05) between patient groups and controls were determined using Mann-Whitney -tests.

RESULTS

The CAE patients had significantly higher plasma levels of INF-γ, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-8 ( = 0.007, 0.01, 0.001, and 0.002, respectively), and lower levels of IL-2 and IL-4 ( < 0.001 for both) compared to CAD patients and controls. The plasma levels of IL-10, IL-12p, and IL-13 were not different between the three groups. None of these markers could differentiate between patients with pure ( = 6) and mixed with minimal atherosclerosis ( = 10) CAE.

CONCLUSIONS

These results indicate an enhanced systemic pro-inflammatory response in CAE. The profile of this response indicates activation of macrophages through a pathway and trigger different from those of atherosclerosis immune inflammatory response.