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Thromb Haemost 2004; 92(05): 1122-1128
DOI: 10.1160/TH04-04-0202
Cell Signalling and Vessel Remodelling
Schattauer GmbH

Effect of Interleukin-6 promoter polymorphisms in survivors of myocardial infarction and matched controls in the North and South of Europe

The HIFMECH Study
Daniel Kelberman
1   Centre for Cardiovascular Genetics, Department of Medicine, Royal Free and University College London Medical School, London, UK
,
E. Hawe
1   Centre for Cardiovascular Genetics, Department of Medicine, Royal Free and University College London Medical School, London, UK
,
L. A. Luong
1   Centre for Cardiovascular Genetics, Department of Medicine, Royal Free and University College London Medical School, London, UK
,
Vidya Mohamed-Ali
2   Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease Academic Unit, Department of Medicine, University College London, London, UK
,
Pia Lundman
3   King Gustaf V Research Institute and Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Danderyd Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
,
Per Tornvall
4   King Gustaf V Research Institute and Department of Cardiology, Karolinska Institute, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
,
M. F. Aillaud
5   Laboratoire d’Hématologie, CHU Timoine, Marseille, France
,
Irène Juhan-Vague
5   Laboratoire d’Hématologie, CHU Timoine, Marseille, France
,
John S. Yudkin
2   Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease Academic Unit, Department of Medicine, University College London, London, UK
,
Maurizio Margaglione
6   Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS), Ospedale Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy
,
Giovanni di Minno
6   Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS), Ospedale Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy
,
Elena Tremoli
7   Department of Pharmacological Sciences, University of Milan, and Monzino Cardiological Centre, IRCCS, Milan, Italy
,
Stephen E. Humphries
1   Centre for Cardiovascular Genetics, Department of Medicine, Royal Free and University College London Medical School, London, UK
,
on behalf of the HIFMECH study group› Author Affiliations
This work was supported by the British Heart Foundation (grant RG2000/015).
Further Information

Publication History

Received 01 April 2004

Accepted after resubmission 25 August 2004

Publication Date:
04 December 2017 (online)

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Summary

Elevated plasma IL-6 levels have been implicated in the pathogenesis of coronary heart disease. We have investigated the association of two polymorphisms in the promoter of IL-6 (-572G>C and -174G>C) with levels of inflammatory markers and risk of myocardial infarction (MI) in a European study of MI survivors and age-matched controls from two high-risk centres in the North of Europe, and two low risk centres in the South. IL-6 and CRP levels were similar in controls in both regions, but were higher in cases. For the -174G>C polymorphism the rare -174C allele showed a regional difference in allele frequency, being more common in the North European group (0.43 vs 0.28; p < 0.0005), where -174C allele carriers showed an apparent reduced risk of MI compared to -174GG homozygotes (OR 0.53, 95%CI 0.32, 0.86). No such effect was observed in the South or with the -572G>C in either group. Neither genotype was associated with a significant effect on plasma IL-6 levels in either cases or controls. Furthermore, no regional difference was observed in the frequency of the -572G>C SNP, suggesting that these polymorphisms are unlikely to be contributing to the observed increased risk of cardiovascular disease in Northern Europe.

Keywords

Interleukin 6 - coronary heart disease - myocardial infarction
 

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