[Acute inflammation phase reactants and interleukin-8 in myocardial infarction].

ABSTRACT

The study was undertaken to search for additional diagnostic criteria allowing the depth of myocardial damage to be estimated in males aged 57.2 +/- 9.6 years. Few interrelated acute phase reaction indices, including the levels of interleukin-8 (IL-8), lactoferrin (LF), alpha2-macroglobulin (alpha2-MG), plasmin (PL) and alpha2-MG-PL circulating complexes, were studied in serum on days 1, 7, and 17 of the onset of the disease. In small-focal myocardial infarction, the levels of alpha2-MG and PL were decreased on day 1 and those of LF and IL-8 were increased on day 14. On the contrary, in large-focal myocardial infarction, the concentrations of IL-8 and LF rose just on day 1 while those of alpha2-MG and PL remained unchanged. The detected differences may be used as additional criteria in differential diagnosis, particularly when ECG was of no informative value. Further, the concurrent elevation of alpha2-MG, PL, and PL-alpha2MG concentrations in large-focal myocardial infarction is indicative of poor prognosis.