Effects of stress hyperglycemia on acute myocardial infarction: role of inflammatory immune process in functional cardiac outcome.

OBJECTIVE Stress hyperglycemia has been associated with increased mortality in patients with myocardial infarction (MI). We examined the association between plasma glucose levels, circulating inflammatory markers, T-cell activation, and functional cardiac outcome in patients with first MI. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Echocardiographic parameters, circulating levels of interleukin-18 (IL-18), C-reactive protein (CPR), and the percent of CD16-CD56, CD4/CD8, CD152, and HLA-DR expression were investigated in 108 patients with acute MI on admission to the emergency ward. RESULTS Our review found that 31 new hyperglycemic patients (glycemia >or=7 mmol/l) had higher infarct segment length (P < 0.05) and myocardial performance index (P < 0.02) and reduced transmitral Doppler flow (P < 0.05), pulmonary flow analysis (P < 0.02), and ejection fraction (P < 0.05) compared with 36 hyperglycemic diabetic patients and 41 normoglycemic patients. Plasma IL-18 and CRP were higher in the hyperglycemic than in the normoglycemic patients (P < 0.005), with the highest values in patients with new hyperglycemia (P < 0.05). Hyperglycemic patients had a higher percent of CD16+/CD56+ cells and CD4/CD8 ratio (P < 0.01), whereas they had lower CD152 expression (which has a negative regulatory function in T-cell activation) compared with normoglycemic patients (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS During MI, hyperglycemia is associated with increased levels of inflammatory markers, enhanced expression of cytotoxic T-cells, and reduced expression of T-cells, which are implicated in limiting the immune process. An increased inflammatory immune process seems a likely mechanism linking acute hyperglycemia to poor cardiac outcome in MI patients.