Elevated levels of interleukin‐1β‐converting enzyme and caspase‐cleaved cytokeratin‐18 in acute myocardial infarction

BACKGROUND: Systemic inflammation and apoptosis-specific immune activation play a major role in acute coronary syndromes (ACS) including acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The role of systemic and coronary obtained inflammatory plasma protein interleukin-1beta precursor (IL-1betap), IL-1beta-converting enzyme (ICE) and the apoptosis-specific caspase-cleaved cytokeratin-18 (ccCK-18) are not known in ACS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Plasma samples were obtained from stable angina (SA, n = 34), unstable angina (UA, n = 37) and patients with AMI (n = 39). Coronary blood was acquired by means of thrombectomy devices (X-sizer) in AMI patients. IL-1betap, ICE and ccCK-18 were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Group comparisons were evaluated by parametric Tukey test. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to determine predictive values of IL-1betap, ICE and ccCK-18 as compared to creatine kinase (CK) and troponin T (TnT) in order to relate these markers with the occurrence of myocardial damage. RESULTS: IL-1betap, ICE and ccCK-18 were identified to be significantly altered in the peripheral blood of patients suffering from AMI as compared to SA and UA. ROC curves were plotted and revealed that ccCK-18 is a novel sensitive marker for the detection of myocardial damage as compared to TnT or CK. (AUC ccCK-18 0.925, TnT AUC 0.62 and CK AUC 0.858.) Moreover, ICE and ccCK-18 were significantly increased at the site of coronary occlusion as compared to peripheral blood samples in AMI patients (both P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that ACS is related to increased concentration of systemic soluble ICE and ccCK-18. Moreover, soluble ccCK-18 was identified to be a superior marker as compared to TnT or CK, for detection of myocardial damage.