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Scientific letters
Interleukin 18 in acute myocardial infarction
  1. YUKIHIRO SETA,
  2. TSUGIYASU KANDA*,
  3. TORU TANAKA,
  4. MASASHI ARAI,
  5. KENICHI SEKIGUCHI,
  6. TOMOYUKI YOKOYAMA,
  7. MASASHI KURIMOTO†,
  8. JUN'ICHI TAMURA*,
  9. MASAHIKO KURABAYASHI
  1. Second Department of Internal Medicine
  2. *Department of General Medicine
  3. Department of Laboratory Medicine
  4. Gunma University School of Medicine
  5. 3-39-15, Showa-machi, Maebashi 371, Japan
  6. †Hayashibara Biochemical Laboratories Inc
  7. 675-1, Fujisaki, Okayama, 702-8006 Japan
  8. kanda@showa.gunma-u.ac.jp

https://doi.org/10.1136/heart.84.6.668

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    Interleukin 18 (IL-18), which is a recently cloned cytokine synthesised by Kupffer cells, has been shown to activate macrophages.1 Macrophages and T cells have been reported to be activated in patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI).2 IL-18 is postulated to play a role in the development of myocardial dysfunction through activation of immune cells. However, the circulating concentration of IL-18 has not been reported in patients with acute MI.

    To elucidate the changes in the release of IL-18 in patients with coronary artery disease, we examined the correlation between IL-18 concentrations and the serum activities of myocardial enzymes, estimating myocardial necrosis or atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP). Our goal was to determine whether measurement of IL-18 could be used as a new indicator of myocardial damage in patients with acute MI.

    We evaluated 24 patients with acute MI (19 men and five women aged 39–79 years). …

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