Inflammatory markers and coronary interventions: a potentially useful follow-up modality after stenting.

Periprocedural levels of various inflammatory markers have been correlated with prog- nosis in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary interventions. However, long-term variations of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) or C-reactive protein (CRP) during follow-up after coronary interventions were not previously investigated. The aim of our study was to perform serial evaluations of these markers before and after coronary stenting and to correlate them with clinical status. Plasma levels of IL-1Ra and CRP were measured at baseline and 3 and 6 months after the procedure in 31 patients with symptomatic coronary artery disease undergoing stent implantation, who had no evi- dence of myocardial ischemia at 6-month follow-up. While at 3 months there were no significant variations of baseline values, 6 months after the procedure a significant decrease from baseline was observed both in IL-1Ra and CRP levels (median 24 pg/ml, P 0.048, and 0.13 mg/dl, P 0.017, respectively). Six-month reduction in both IL-1Ra and CRP levels was significant in patients with unstable angina (n 18; IL-1Ra: from 175 to 119 pg/ml, P 0.001; CRP: from 0.52 to 0.18 mg/dl, P 0.002) and nonsignificant in those with stable angina (n 13) on admission (IL-1Ra: from 123 to 158 pg/ml, P 0.22; CRP: from 0.19 to 0.10 mg/dl, P 0.44). In conclusion, a significant reduction of IL-1Ra and CRP levels is observed 6 months after stent implantation in patients with preproce- dural unstable angina who remain free of ischemia. This decrease suggests a stabiliza- tion of the inflammatory process and may be associated with a favorable prognosis after coronary interventions.