Cytokine Profile and ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction

> “ Give me fever and I can cure any disease .”– HippocratesIn this issue of Circulation Research , Ammirati et al1 have obtained data from 109 patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) with the highest interleukin (IL)-6 levels compared with 96 patients with the lowest IL6 levels to identify differences in interacting cytokine levels that might predict clinical outcomes. They identified 2 different modules of patients from their circulating cytokine levels. One module included STEMI patients with increases in IL6(+) IL10(+), greater systolic dysfunction at discharge, and death at 6 months compared with IL6(−) IL10(+) STEMI patients. Combining IL10 with IL6 derived from the 2 identified cytokine modules provided a risk index combined-cytokine-index called the “AC-Index” that outperformed any single cytokine in the prediction of systolic dysfunction and death. The authors concluded that simultaneous elevation of IL6 and IL10 levels distinguishes STEMI patients with poorer clinical outcomes from other STEMI patients. They suggest that this information may have potential clinical …