@article { author = {Rezaieyazdi, Zahra and AkbariRad, Mina and Saadati, Nayyereh and Salari, Masoumeh and Orang, Reza and Sedighi, Sima and Esmaily, Habibollah and Azarpazhooh, Mahmoud Reza and Firoozi, Abdollah and Akbarpour, Ensieh}, title = {Serum interleukin-18 and its relationship with subclinical atherosclerosis in systemic lupus erythematosus}, journal = {ARYA Atherosclerosis Journal}, volume = {17}, number = {1}, pages = {1-6}, year = {2022}, publisher = {Cardiovascular research institute, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences}, issn = {1735-3955}, eissn = {2251-6638}, doi = {10.22122/arya.v17i0.2126}, abstract = {BACKGROUND: Interleukin-18 (IL-18) is a pro-inflammatory and pro-atherogenic factor, and its blood level has shown a direct correlation with atherosclerosis. We aimed to evaluate the serum IL-18 level in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and its relationship with the intima-media thickness (IMT) of the carotid artery in these patients, as an indicator of atherosclerosis.METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 60 patients as the patient group and 30 healthy volunteers as the control group [matched sex, age, and body mass index (BMI)] were selected, and their disease status and general data were gathered using the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index 2000 (SLEDAI-2K) form. A blood sample was also obtained from all participants to determine the serum level of IL-18 and other metrics, including high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), cholesterol, triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), anti-double stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (anti-dsDNA), complement 3 (C3), and C4. The IMT of the carotid artery was calculated in both groups. We also evaluated the clinical cardiovascular manifestations.RESULTS: The serum IL-18 levels in patients were significantly higher than in the control group (P ˂ 0.005). It had no significant correlation with disease activity (P = 0.10). The patients with SLE with high IL-18 serum levels (> 280 pg/ml) had higher SLEDAI-2K (P = 0.02) than the patients with a low level (< 280), where 280 was the median of the IL-18 levels. The serum IL-18 level had no significant correlation with the carotid artery IMT.CONCLUSION: A high level of IL-18 reflects the disease activity, but it was not significantly correlated with subclinical atherosclerosis, denoted by the carotid artery IMT.}, keywords = {Systemic Lupus Erythematosus,Interleukin18,Atherosclerosis}, url = {https://arya.mui.ac.ir/article_10777.html}, eprint = {https://arya.mui.ac.ir/article_10777_f8744bce04a985c76f51eea8d2ab8c88.pdf} }