Interleukin-1 beta, interferon-gamma, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with coronary artery disease

Background: several inflammatory mediators have been proposed to contribute to thepathogenesis of atherosclerosis. the aim of this study was to evaluate the quantitativeexpression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in un-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cellof patients with coronary artery disease (cad).methods: interleukin-1 beta (il-1b), tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and interferon-gamma(ifn-?) gene expression were evaluated in angiography confirmed patients with and withoutcad in a case-control study using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction.results: a significant increase (p = 0.030) in il-1b gene expression was found in patients withcad [median interquartile range (iqr) = 4.890 (6.084)] compared to patients without cad[median (iqr) = 1.792 (3.172)]. despite the increase in ifn-? gene expression in patients withcad [median (iqr) = 1.298 (3.896)] versus patients without cad [median (iqr) = 0.841(2.79)], there was not statistically significant difference (p = 0.990).conclusion: our results provide evidence for possible association between il-1b anddevelopment of atherosclerosis as a crucial cytokine that induce a network of signaling pathways.this finding if proved in future would suggest il-1b as a potent therapeutic target in cad.