(12-01-06) Global inflammation: a cardiovascular risk marker in women

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Elevated levels of inflammatory markers including C-reactive protein and interleukin 6 (IL-6) predict cardiovascular risk in women suspected of having myocardial ischemia, according to researchers.

As lead investigator Dr. Kevin E. Kip told Reuters Health, "in women with symptoms that are suggestive of heart disease, using multiple tests to measure blood levels of inflammation may help to identify those who are at particularly high future risk of death and major cardiovascular events, such as heart attack."
In study published in the November issue of the American Heart Journal, Dr. Kip of the University of Pittsburgh and colleagues examined plasma samples from 580 women taking part in an ischemia study. The researchers measured levels of inflammatory markers including C-reactive protein, IL-6 and serum amyloid A over a median of 4.7 years.
No clusters of these or other markers, including tumor necrosis factor alpha, were independently associated with angiographic coronary artery disease. However, as levels of C-reactive protein, IL-6 and serum amyloid A increased, so did the relative risk of death.
The death rate in those with the lowest levels of these markers was 2.6%; in those with the highest, it was 26.6% (p < 0.0001). Women with the highest levels of two or more of these markers had a relative risk of death of 4.21. This was a higher risk than that conferred by any single marker alone, all of which, say the investigators, were about equally predictive.
"This marked excess cardiovascular risk that is associated with higher levels of inflammation," added Dr. Kip, "does not appear to result from accelerated development of coronary artery disease per se, but rather through other yet to be determined mechanisms."

Source : Am Heart J 2005;150:900-906.

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