Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 Feb;155(2):303-9.
doi: 10.1016/j.ahj.2007.09.006. Epub 2007 Oct 25.

Interleukin-6 and atrial fibrillation in patients with coronary artery disease: data from the Heart and Soul Study

Gregory M Marcus  1 , Mary A Whooley, David V Glidden, Ludmila Pawlikowska, Jonathan G Zaroff, Jeffrey E Olgin
Affiliations

Interleukin-6 and atrial fibrillation in patients with coronary artery disease: data from the Heart and Soul Study

Gregory M Marcus et al. Am Heart J. 2008 Feb.

Abstract

Background: Previous studies suggest that markers of inflammation are elevated in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). However, because inflammation has been implicated in contributing to risk of both AF and coronary artery disease (CAD), which are often present in the same populations, it is important to control for confounding by the presence of CAD. We therefore examined several biomarkers of inflammation and ultimately genotyped IL-6 polymorphisms in patients with AF in a cohort of subjects with known CAD.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of 971 participants in the Heart and Soul Study, 46 of whom had AF. Interleukin-6, C-reactive protein, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, CD-40 ligand, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, and fibrinogen levels were measured.

Results: In both unadjusted and adjusted analyses, IL-6 was the only biomarker significantly associated with AF (median IL-6 3.76 and 2.52 pg/mL in those with and without AF, respectively, P = .0005; adjusted odds ratio 1.77, P = .032). The IL-6-174CC genotype was significantly associated with the presence of AF in the adjusted analysis (odds ratio 2.34, P = .04) and with higher IL-6 levels (P = .002).

Conclusions: In this cohort of subjects with CAD, AF was significantly associated with elevated IL-6 levels and the IL-6-174CC genotype. No associations were found with other biomarkers, including C-reactive protein. This suggests that IL-6 is a uniquely important mediator in the pathophysiology of AF.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosures/ conflicts of interest: None.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Odds ratios for the association between each biomarker and the presence of atrial fibrillation, adjusted for the independent effects of each biomarker (after entering each biomarker into a logistic regression model with atrial fibrillation as the binary outcome). Error bars denote 95% confidence intervals. The dashed line denotes an odds ratio of 1.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Odds ratios of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4rth quartiles compared to the first quartile for each biomarker as predictors of atrial fibrillation. The table exhibits the number of patients with atrial fibrillation in each quartile for each marker.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Proportions of patients with and without atrial fibrillation for each genotype and each allele (* denotes inclusion of both genotypes for a given allele). P values represent results of pairwise comparisons after collapsing for genotype or allele.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Odds ratios for the association between each -174G/C genotype and allele (*denotes inclusion of both genotypes for a given allele) and atrial fibrillation after adjustment for age, gender, hypertension, diabetes, heart failure, ejection fraction, left ventricular mass index, and smoking. Error bars denote 95% confidence intervals. The dashed line denotes an odds ratio of 1.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Median levels of IL-6 (pg/ml) for each genotype of the -174G/C and -572G/C polymorphisms. Error bars denote interquartile ranges.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Chugh SS, Blackshear JL, Shen WK, Hammill SC, Gersh BJ. Epidemiology and natural history of atrial fibrillation: clinical implications. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2001;37(2):371–378. - PubMed
    1. Kumagai K, Nakashima H, Urata H, Gondo N, Arakawa K, Saku K. Effects of angiotensin II type 1 receptor antagonist on electrical and structural remodeling in atrial fibrillation. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2003;41(12):2197–2204. - PubMed
    1. Li D, Fareh S, Leung TK, Nattel S. Promotion of atrial fibrillation by heart failure in dogs: atrial remodeling of a different sort. Circulation. 1999;100(1):87–95. - PubMed
    1. Frustaci A, Chimenti C, Bellocci F, Morgante E, Russo MA, Maseri A. Histological substrate of atrial biopsies in patients with lone atrial fibrillation. Circulation. 1997;96(4):1180–1184. - PubMed
    1. Marcus GM, Yang Y, Varosy PD, et al. Regional left atrial voltage in patients with atrial fibrillation. Heart Rhythm. 2007;4(2):138–144. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types