Imbalance Between Interleukin-1β and Interleukin-1 Receptor Antagonist in Epicardial Adipose Tissue Is Associated With Non ST-Segment Elevation Acute Coronary Syndrome

Introduction

Interleukin-1beta (IL-1β) is crucially involved in the pathogenesis of coronary atherosclerotic diseases (CAD) and its inhibition has proven cardiovascular benefits. Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) is a local source of inflammatory mediators which may negatively affect the surrounding coronary arteries. In the present study, we explored the relationship between serum and EAT levels of IL-1β and IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) in patients with chronic coronary syndrome (CCS) and recent acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

Methods

We obtained EAT biopsies in 54 CCS (Group 1) and 33 ACS (Group 2) patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting. Serum and EAT levels of IL-1β and IL-1ra were measured in all patients. An immunophenotypic study was carried out on EAT biopsies and the CD86 events were studied as markers of M1 macrophages.

Results

Circulating levels of IL-1β were significantly higher in the overall CAD population compared to a control group [7.64 pg/ml (6.86; 8.57) vs. 1.89 pg/ml (1.81; 2.29); p < 0.001]. In contrast, no differences were observed for serum IL-1ra levels between CAD and controls. Comparable levels of serum IL-1β were found between Groups 1 and 2 [7.6 pg/ml (6.9; 8.7) vs. 7.9 pg/ml (7.2; 8.6); p = 0.618]. In contrast, significantly lower levels of serum IL-1ra were found in Group 2 compared to Group 1 [274 pg/ml (220; 577) vs. 603 pg/ml (334; 1022); p = 0.035]. No differences of EAT levels of IL-1β were found between Group 2 and Group 1 [3.4 pg/ml (2.3; 8.4) vs. 2.4 pg/ml (1.9; 8.0); p = 0.176]. In contrast, significantly lower EAT levels of IL-1ra were found in Group 2 compared to Group 1 [101 pg/ml (40; 577) vs. 1344 pg/ml (155; 5327); p = 0.002]. No correlation was found between EAT levels of IL-1β and CD86 and CD64 events.

Conclusion

The present study explores the levels of IL-1β and IL-1ra in the serum and in EAT of CCS and ACS patients. ACS seems to be associated to a loss of the counter-regulatory activity of IL-1ra against the pro-inflammatory effects related to IL-1β activation.

Dynamic transcription factor activity and networks during ErbB2 breast oncogenesis and targeted therapy

Tissue development and disease progression are multi-stage processes controlled by an evolving set of key regulatory factors, and identifying these factors necessitates a dynamic analysis spanning relevant time scales. Current omics approaches depend on incomplete biological databases to identify critical cellular processes. Herein, we present TRACER (TRanscriptional Activity CEll aRrays), which was employed to quantify the dynamic activity of numerous transcription factor (TFs) simultaneously in 3D and networks for TRACER (NTRACER), a computational algorithm that allows for cellular rewiring to establish dynamic regulatory networks based on activity of TF reporter constructs. We identified major hubs at various stages of culture associated with normal and abnormal tissue growth (i.e., ELK-1 and E2F1, respectively) and the mechanism of action for a targeted therapeutic, lapatinib, through GATA-1, which were confirmed in human ErbB2 positive breast cancer patients and human ErbB2 positive breast cancer cell lines that were either sensitive or resistant to lapatinib.