Interleukine-33 and Lipid Profile in Cardiovascular Diseases Patients and Healthy Subjects

Abstract

Interleukine-33 (IL-33), a newly described member of the IL-1 family, is expressed by many cell types, but the precise source of IL-33 remains so far unclear. IL-33 is implicated in the pathogenesis of many diseases. However, IL-33 is a multifaceted mediator with both pro- and anti- inflammatory activities, it presents an extracellular and nuclear – bound from, each of them performing distinct activities of their own.

The objective of the present study is to evaluate the serum level of IL-33 in patients suffering from diverse cardiovascular diseases (CVD) with different body mass index (BMI), and to compare those with healthy control subjects with matched BMI. In an attempt to find the contribution of IL-33 and obesity to the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases.

The study was carried on( 30) patients with cardiovascular diseases, who were divided to three equal groups according to their BMI as G₁ with BMI (20-24.9), G₂ with BMI (25-29.9) and G₃ with BMI > 30. Healthy individuals were included (10) for each patients group matched BMI and age. All subjects performed serum tests for lipid profile and IL-33 after an overnight fast.

The results showed a significant rise in total cholesterol and triglyceride only for G3 when compared to their healthy control, while significant differences were found for LDL, VLDL and IL-33 for all patient groups when compared with their matched age and BMI control groups. Also a significant elevation for G3 compared to G1 and G2 in triglyceride, LDL and IL-33 were found.

A conclusion could be made that IL-33 and LDL are significantly affected by BMI in patients groups only and not in the control subjects. This confirms the synergistic effect of the obesity and cardiovascular events on IL-33, while no effect of the disease could be detected from the present study.