title: Interleukin-18 as a predictor of future events in patients with acute coronary syndromes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to assess the short- and long-term prognostic significance of interleukin-18 (IL-18) levels in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  In patients hospitalized with ACS (median age, 66 years; 30% females), we evaluated associations of serum IL-18 levels from day 1 (n=1261) with the short- (<3 months) and long-term (median, 7.6 years) risk of death, development of congestive heart failure (CHF), and myocardial infarction (MI). IL-18 was not significantly associated with short-term mortality. In the long term, IL-18 levels were significantly related to all-cause mortality, even after adjustment for clinical confounders (hazard ratio [HR], 1.19; 95% confidence interval, 1.07 to 1.33; P=0.002). Long-term, cardiovascular mortality was univariately related to IL-18, and the adjusted relation between noncardiovascular mortality and IL-18 was highly significant (HR, 1.36; 95% confidence interval, 1.11 to 1.67; P=0.003). IL-18 independently predicted CHF, MI, and cardiovascular death/CHF/MI in both the short and long term. Measurements from day 1 of ACS and 3 months after ACS had a similar power to predict late outcome.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The addition of the measurement of IL-18 to clinical variables improved the prediction of risk of all-cause and noncardiovascular mortality. The association between IL-18 and noncardiovascular mortality is intriguing and warrants further study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy and Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hartford
authors.forename: Olov
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Wiklund
authors.forename: Lillemor Mattsson
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Hultén
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Persson
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Karlsson
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Herlitz
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hulthe
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Caidahl
mesh_terms: D054058:Acute Coronary Syndrome / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D018836:Inflammation Mediators / Q000097:blood; D020382:Interleukin-18 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology; D011379:Prognosis; D012307:Risk Factors; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D018836:Inflammation Mediators; D020382:Interleukin-18