Relationship of hypomethylation CpG islands in interleukin-6 gene promoter with IL-6 mRNA levels in patients with coronary atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerosis is the important cause of most cardiovascular diseases, with high prevalence and mortality. Atherosclerosis is not only a lipid metabolism disorder but also recently is defined as a chronic inflammatory disease. Several studies showed that interleukin-6 (IL-6) is involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. The aim of the present study is the examination of mRNA Levels and hypomethylation of promoter in atherosclerosis patients. In this assay, a total of 35 cases with atherosclerosis and 30 controls were enrolled. RNA and DNA were isolated from the peripheral blood of all samples. Mean gene expression was determined by RT-PCR and methylation status at six CpG motifs in promoter was determined using bisulfite genomic sequencing. Real Time-PCR analysis results showed the mean IL6 RNA level in atherosclerosis patients candidate for CABG (coronary artery bypass grafting) was significantly higher than controls ( value = 0.01). Also, the upstream CpG motifs (-1038 to -952) in promoter were predominantly unmethylated in patients than in the controls ( value = 0.01). These findings suggest that an increase in gene expression and its DNA hypomethylation promoter are associated with atherosclerosis patient's candidate for CABG surgery.