The role of interleukin-27 in atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases: A review

Abstract

The main cause of many cardiovascular diseases is atherosclerosis. The atherosclerotic process, manifested by acute vascular accidents, such as myocardial and/or cerebral infarction, or chronic ischemic conditions, such as coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular disease, is essentially a systemic inflammatory process. The significant role of T-cells, macrophages, neutrophils and cytokines in this pathological process has been proven. The presented literature review indicates the potentially important diagnostic and prognostic value of the interleukin-27 assessment. It is expected that further scientific and clinical studies will demonstrate the possibility of using this cytokine as an additional laboratory tool for the diagnosis, risk stratification and prediction of cardiovascular events in patients with a cardiac profile.

Keywords

• cardiovascular diseases
• biological markers
• atherosclerosis
• coronary heart disease
• cytokines
• interleukin-27