Interleukin 6 in asymptomatic patients with nonsevere aortic valve stenosis: a post-hoc study of the SEAS trial
Authors: Hadziselimovic E , Greve A M , Sajadieh A , Olsen M H , Nienaber C , Ray S G , Rosseboe A B , Wachtell K , Nielsen O W 
Published: October 2024

Background

Inflammation plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of aortic valve stenosis (AS) through cytokine-mediated valve calcification. Studies of explanted valves found associations of an elevated pro-inflammatory cytokine, Interleukin 6 (IL-6), with increased postoperative mortality. However, limited knowledge exists regarding the prognostic value of elevated circulating IL-6 in asymptomatic patients with nonsevere AS.

Purpose

To investigate the hypothesis that elevated plasma IL-6 concentration ≥7 pg/mL (above the upper limit of normal 95th percentile) correlates with more severe AS and a higher risk of adverse outcomes in asymptomatic patients with nonsevere AS.

Methods

We analyzed data of 1574 asymptomatic patients who had mild-to-moderate AS, preserved systolic and kidney function, no overt cardiovascular diseases, and an event-free follow-up one year after enrollment in the randomized Simvastatin and Ezetimibe in Aortic Stenosis (SEAS) trial. We ascertained the correlation of year-0 and year-1 IL-6 levels with echocardiographic AS severity, defined as moderate-severe AS in the presence of ≥2 measurements at year-0: aortic valve area &lt;1 cm², mean pressure gradient ≥40 mmHg, maximal transaortic velocity ≥4 m/s, and velocity ratio &lt;0.25. Multivariable regression examined correlations between IL-6 at year-0 and clinical variables. Cox proportional hazard models and competing risk analyses examined associations of elevated IL-6 at year-1 and 4-year risk of the primary composite endpoint of major cardiovascular events (MACE) comprising the first event of cardiovascular death, aortic valve replacement, hospitalization with heart failure, myocardial infarction, percutaneous coronary intervention, coronary artery bypass graft, or ischemic stroke.

Results

At year-0, among 1574 patients with a mean (SD) age of 67.5 (9.7) years, 629 (40.0%) were women, 263 (16.7%) had moderate-severe AS, and 194 (12.3%) had elevated IL-6. The median relative IL-6 change from year-0 to year-1 was 1.0 (IQR, 0.8-1.4) across AS-severity groups (P=0.12) (Figure 1). In adjusted models, IL-6 at year-0 did not correlate with AS-severity (P=0.30). In mild AS, an elevated IL-6 at year-1 was associated with an increased 4-year MACE risk (HR 1.40; 95% CI, 1.02-1.92; p=0.04) in adjusted Cox regression analyses (Figure 2A). In sensitivity analyses, the annual IL-6 increase &gt;50% combined with normal IL-6 was associated with an increased 4-year MACE-risk of HR 1.48 (95% CI, 1.10-2.00; P=0.009) in patients with mild AS and 1.82 (95% CI, 0.68-1.74; P=0.73) in patients with moderate-severe AS (all P for interaction&gt;0.25) (Figure 2C-D).

Conclusion

In asymptomatic patients with nonsevere AS, circulating IL-6 remains stable within the reference range in 7 out of 8 patients during a 1-year follow-up, regardless of AS severity. An elevated IL-6 was associated with a 1.4-fold increased 4-year MACE-risk in patients with mild AS, suggesting its possible role as an early risk marker.Figure 1Figure 2