Inflammatory markers in men with angiographically documented coronary heart disease

Background: Recent evidence suggests that atherosclerosis is a chronic infl ammatory process. In this study, we examined several markers of inflammatio n in men with coronary heart disease (CHD) and appropriate controls. Methods: The concentrations of C-reactive protein (CRP), serum amyloid A (S AA), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and soluble intracellular adhesion molecule (sIC AM-1) were examined in 100 men with angiographically documented CHD and 100 age-, gender-, and smoking-matched controls with no history of CHD. We ass essed the association of these markers with severity of disease as indicate d by >50% obstruction in one vessel (n = 30), two vessels (n = 39), or thre e vessels (n = 31). Results: Significant increases were noted in serum CRP (median for cases vs controls, 3.4 vs 1.5 mg/L; P <0.0001), SAA (5.9 vs 3.7 mg/L; P <0.005), an d IL-6 (2.3 vs 1.7 ng/L; P <0.013) in patients with CHD compared with contr ols. These differences remained significant after correction for age, smoki ng, hypertension, diabetes, and lipid and homocysteine concentrations. Plas ma sICAM-1 was not significantly different between the two groups (335 vs 3 39 mu g/L). No significant correlation was seen between these markers and t he severity of coronary disease. Conclusions: Concentrations of CRP, SAA, and IL-6 were increased in patient s with CHD but failed to correlate with severity of coronary disease. These markers might reflect the diffuse atherosclerotic process in the vascular system rather than the degree of localized obstruction from coronary lesion s. (C) 1999 American Association for Clinical Chemistry.