Interleukin-1 in Coronary Artery Disease

Abstract: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality worldwide. Inflammation has long been established as a key component in the pathophysiology of coronary artery disease. The interleukin-1 family consists of 11 members that regulate the inflammatory response through both pro- and anti-inflammatory properties with the Nod-like receptor (NLR) family pyrin domain con-taining 3 inflammasome having a pivotal role in the process of converting interleukin-1 beta and in-terleukin-18, two key inflammatory mediators, into their mature forms. Interleukin-1 affects various cell types that participate in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis as it enhances the expression of leu-kocyte adhesion molecules on the surface of endothelial cells and augments the permeability of the endothelial cell barrier, attracting monocytes and macrophages into the vessel wall and aids the mi-gration of smooth muscle cells toward atheroma. It also enhances the aggregation of low-density lipoprotein particles in endothelium and smooth muscle cells and exhibits procoagulant activity by inducing synthesis, cell-surface expression and release of tissue factor in endothelial cells, promot-ing platelet adhesion. The value of interleukin-1 as a diagnostic biomarker is currently limited, but interleukin-1 beta, interleukin-18 and interleukin-37 have shown promising data regarding their prognostic value in coronary artery disease. Importantly, target anti-inflammatory treatments have shown promising results regarding atherosclerosis progression and cardiovascular events. In this re-view article, we focus on the immense role of interleukin-1 in atherosclerosis progression, inflam-mation cascade and in the clinical application of target anti-inflammatory treatments.