Plasma IL-5 concentration and subclinical carotid atherosclerosis

Silveira, A. et al. (2015) Plasma IL-5 concentration and subclinical carotid atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis, 239(1), pp. 125-130. (doi: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2014.12.046) (PMID:25587992) (PMCID:PMC4340644)

Abstract

Objective: Genetic variants robustly associated with coronary artery disease were reported in the vicinity of the interleukin (IL)-5 locus, and animal studies suggested a protective role for IL-5 in atherosclerosis. Therefore, we set this work to explore IL-5 as a plasma biomarker for early subclinical atherosclerosis, as determined by measures of baseline severity and change over time of carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT). Methods: We used biobank and databases of IMPROVE, a large European prospective cohort study of high-risk individuals (n = 3534) free of clinically overt cardiovascular disease at enrollment, in whom composite and segment-specific measures of cIMT were recorded at baseline and after 15 and 30 months. IL-5 was measured with an immunoassay in plasma samples taken at baseline. Results: IL-5 levels were lower in women than in men, lower in the South than in North of Europe, and showed positive correlations with most established risk factors. IL-5 showed significant inverse relationships with cIMT change over time in the common carotid segment in women, but no significant relationships to baseline cIMT in either men or women. Conclusions: Our results suggest that IL-5 may be part of protective mechanisms operating in early atherosclerosis, at least in women. However, the relationships are weak and whereas IL-5 has been proposed as a potential molecular target to treat allergies, it is difficult to envisage such a scenario in coronary artery disease.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Strawbridge, Dr Rona
• Authors: Silveira, A., McLeod, O., Strawbridge, R. J., Gertow, K., Sennblad, B., Baldassarre, D., Veglia, F., Deleskog, A., Persson, J., Leander, K., Gigante, B., Kauhanen, J., Rauramaa, R., Smit, A. J., Mannarino, E., Giral, P., Gustafsson, S., Söderberg, S., Öhrvik, J., Humphries, S. E., Tremoli, E., de Faire, U., and Hamsten, A.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > Mental Health and Wellbeing
• Journal Name: Atherosclerosis
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0021-9150
• ISSN (Online): 1879-1484
• Published Online: 23 December 2014
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2015 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Atherosclerosis 239(1):125-130
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License