Increased serum IL-17A is associated with HMGB1 in coronary artery disease

Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which a variety of immune cells and inflammatory factors are involved. The high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1)/interleukin (IL)-17A axis participates in the pathogenesis of many inflammatory diseases including some cardiovascular diseases. IL-17A, as a novel pro-inflammatory cytokine, plays an important role in the progression of atherosclerosis. Meanwhile, HMGB1 has been confirmed to be a pro-atherosclerotic mediator and a novel predictor of the severity of atherosclerotic coronary artery disease (CAD). The present study was designed to investigate the relationship between serum IL-17A and HMGB1 levels as well as the specific role of IL-17A in CAD. The levels of IL-17A in the non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) group and ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) group were significantly higher than that in the unstable angina pectoris (USAP) group (both P<0.05). And the level of IL-17A in USAP group was higher than that in the stable angina pectoris (SAP) group (P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference between SAP group and control group (P>0.05). Besides, there was a significant positive correlation between IL-17A and HMGB1 levels (n=141, r=0.253, P<0.05). IL-17A was suggested to be an independent risk factor for CAD by logistic regression analysis (OR=1.273, 95% CI 1.056-1.602, P=0.0211). These findings indicated that increased serum IL-17A is involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerotic CAD and the HMGB1/IL-17A axis plays a specific role in atherosclerosis. In addition, IL-17A is an independent risk factor for CAD and may be a potential target for pharmacological intervention of CAD.