Correlation study on serum IL-15 and severity of coronary artery stenosis of coronary heart disease

AIM To assess the relationship between serum IL-15 and severity of coronary artery stenosis. METHODS Enrolled in this study were 270 subjects with suspected coronary heart disease who underwent coronary angiography (CAG). Subjects were divided into normal group, mild group, moderate group and severe group according to the Gensini score (normal: Gensini=0; mild: 041). Clinical data were collected using questionnaires, physical measurements and biochemical indexes and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to determine serum IL-15 levels. Using multiple statistical analysis methods, we conducted analyses including confounders and regression models adjusted for various measurements such as age, body mass index, lipid, C-reactive protein, hypertension and diabetes mutually for IL-15. RESULTS Compared with those in subjects without coronary stenosis, circulating IL-15 levels were significantly higher in subjects with stenosis with an increasing trend towards the severity of stenosis (normal: (6.7±2.0) pg/ml, mild: (11.9±3.1) pg/ml, moderate: (18.3±3.2) pg/ml, and severe: (24.4±4.0) pg/ml; P<0.01). IL-15 was positively correlated with Gensini score (r=0.572, P<0.01) after adjusting for age, body mass index, lipid, C-reactive protein, hypertension and diabetes and was an independently related factor. CONCLUSION Serum IL-15 is higher in patients with coronary artery stenosis and is positively correlated with the severity of stenosis. These results indicate that serum IL-15 may be an independent related factor of coronary artery stenosis.