Background: Interleukin-3 (IL-3) synthesized by activated T-lymphocytes is a mediator in chronic inflammation and is suspected to promote atherosclerosis. Since there is no data on IL-3 in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) available, we compared IL-3 concentrations in different subsets of patients with CAD to healthy control patients.
Methods: 205 consecutive patients with CAD, 136 with stable angina and 69 with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention, 61 patients with asymptomatic CAD and 41 patients with normal coronary arteries were investigated.
Eotaxin (CCL11) is a potent chemoattractant for eosinophils and lymphocytes. Apart from its functions in the eosinophilic system, eotaxin has been shown to be overexpressed in atherosclerosis. We therefore sought to determine whether chronic infection with Chlamydia pneumoniae or other infectious agents is correlated with concentrations of eotaxin or C-reactive protein since this mechanism could explain the finding that chronic infection stimulates smooth muscle cell migration and plaque development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Elevated antibodies against Chlamydia pneumoniae have been associated with coronary artery disease. In patients undergoing percutaneous coronary angioplasty, we therefore investigated the effect of roxithromycin on symptomatic restenosis and determined antichlamydial antibodies as well as inflammatory and immunological parameters.
Methods: A total of 327 patients undergoing coronary angioplasty were randomized to roxithromycin or placebo and followed-up for 1 year.