Macrophage migration inhibitory factor and the risk of myocardial infarction or death due to coronary artery disease in adults without prior myocardial infarction or stroke: the EPIC-Norfolk Prospective Population study

Am J Med. 2004 Sep 15;117(6):390-7. doi: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2004.04.010.

Abstract

Purpose: To determine whether plasma levels of macrophage migration inhibitory factor, a proinflammatory cytokine involved in atherogenesis, are predictive of myocardial infarction or death from coronary artery disease.

Methods: We performed a prospective case-control study nested in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Norfolk cohort. We selected men and women who did not report a history of myocardial infarction or stroke at baseline. Baseline concentrations of macrophage migration inhibitory factor were measured among 777 patients who had a myocardial infarction or died of coronary artery disease during follow-up, and 1554 matched controls who remained free of coronary artery disease.

Results: Baseline macrophage migration inhibitory factor concentrations were higher in cases than controls (median, 107.4 microg/L vs. 90.7 microg/L, P = 0.001). The risk of myocardial infarction or death from coronary artery disease increased with increasing quartiles of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (P for linearity <0.0001). Patients in the highest quartile had the greatest likelihood of myocardial infarction or death due to coronary artery disease (unadjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.6; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.2 to 2.0). After adjustment for traditional risk factors and C-reactive protein level, the odds ratio decreased slightly (OR = 1.3; 95% CI: 1.0 to 1.7). Upon additional adjustment for white cell count, this association was no longer statistically significant.

Conclusion: Prospective data suggest that the relation between macrophage migration inhibitory factor and the risk of myocardial infarction or death due to coronary artery disease in adults without a history of myocardial infarction or stroke is not very strong. However, the data support a regulatory role for macrophage migration inhibitory factor in the process of atherosclerosis.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Biomarkers / blood
  • Blood Pressure / physiology
  • C-Reactive Protein / metabolism
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Cholesterol, HDL / blood
  • Coronary Artery Disease / complications
  • Coronary Artery Disease / epidemiology*
  • Coronary Artery Disease / metabolism*
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Macrophage Migration-Inhibitory Factors / metabolism*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Myocardial Infarction / epidemiology*
  • Myocardial Infarction / etiology
  • Myocardial Infarction / metabolism*
  • Prospective Studies
  • Risk Factors
  • Sex Factors
  • Stroke / epidemiology*
  • Stroke / metabolism*
  • Survival Analysis
  • United Kingdom / epidemiology

Substances

  • Biomarkers
  • Cholesterol, HDL
  • Macrophage Migration-Inhibitory Factors
  • C-Reactive Protein