© 2004 European Society of Cardiology
Short-term prognostic value of initial serum levels of interleukin-10 in patients with acute myocarditis
Division of Cardiology, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences 1-754 Asahimachi-dori, Niigata City 951-8510, Japan
* Correspondence author. Pressent address: Toronto General Hospital, 3R-408 Max Bell Research Centre, 101 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5G1L7. Tel.: +1-416-340-3705; fax: +1-416-595-9592. E-mail address: fuse{at}kd6.so-net.ne.jp
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Abstract |
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The disease course of acute myocarditis has a wide spectrum and the predictors of the prognosis in patients with acute myocarditis have not yet been established. In the pathogenesis of myocarditis, the cytokine environment is important. In this study, we examined the predictive values of serum levels of interleukin-10 (IL-10) and IL-12 in the short-term prognosis of patients with acute myocarditis. Twenty-four consecutive patients who had been diagnosed as having acute active myocarditis were analyzed and monitored for 2 months. The patients with myocarditis were divided into the survival group (n=16) and the non-survival group (n=8). Initial serum levels of IL-10 (P=0.0015) and IL-12 (P=0.012) in the non-survival group were significantly higher than those of the survival group, and there was a significant correlation between IL-10 and IL-12 levels (P<0.0001). The univariate analyses showed that increased serum levels of IL-10 (hazard ratio 1.041, P=0.0004) and IL-12 (hazard ratio 1.128, P=0.0346) were significant predictors of mortality. In the Kaplan–Meier analysis, high levels of IL-10 (
7.0 pg/ml) (P=0.0239) strongly predicted high mortality. In conclusion, the elevation in serum IL-10 levels at the initial phase appeared to predict poor short-term prognosis in patients with acute myocarditis.
Key Words: Myocarditis • Prognosis • Interleukin-10 • Interleukin-12 • Th1/Th2
Received October 5, 2003; Revised January 20, 2004; Accepted March 20, 2004