title: Inflammatory markers and long-term risk of ischemic heart disease in men A 13-year follow-up of the Quebec Cardiovascular Study.
abstract: We tested the hypothesis that elevated plasma interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP) and fibrinogen concentrations are independent risk factors and interact in increasing the long-term risk of ischemic heart disease (IHD) in men. A total of 1982 IHD-free men from the Quebec Cardiovascular Study were followed over a period of 13 years during which 210 first fatal IHD events and non-fatal myocardial infarctions were recorded. Increased CRP levels (4th versus 1st quartile) were not associated with an increased risk of IHD after adjustment for non-lipid risk factors (age, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, diabetes, smoking and medication use at baseline), lipid risk factors (LDL and HDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels) and for IL-6 and fibrinogen (RR=0.70, 95% CI=0.43-1.13). High plasma IL-6 levels (4th versus 1st quartile) were associated with a 70% greater risk of IHD independent of confounding risk factors and of the other 2 inflammatory markers (RR=1.71, 95% CI=1.07-2.75). The relationship between high fibrinogen levels (4th versus 1st quartile) and IHD risk was borderline significant in multivariate analyses (RR=1.53, 95% CI=0.97-2.43). An inflammation score based on plasma IL-6 and fibrinogen levels improved the IHD risk predictive value of a multivariate model of traditional risk factors (p=0.03). Including plasma CRP levels into the inflammatory score provided no additional predictive value. In conclusion, elevated plasma IL-6 concentrations are more strongly related to IHD risk than CRP and fibrinogen. An inflammation score based on high plasma IL-6 and fibrinogen levels used in combination with traditional risk factors may improve our ability to adequately identify high risk individuals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Institute on Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods, Laval University, 2440 Hochelaga Blvd., Ste-Foy, Qué., Canada G1K 7P4.
authors.forename: Annie C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: St-Pierre
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cantin
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bergeron
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pirro
authors.forename: Gilles R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Dagenais
authors.forename: Jean-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Després
authors.forename: Benoît
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lamarche
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D005340:Fibrinogen / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology*; D011792:Quebec / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D015850:Interleukin-6; D005340:Fibrinogen; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D002784:Cholesterol