Immune protein linked to risk of aortic valve narrowing
An immune protein was linked to later valve narrowing, with a hazard ratio of 1.24, a measure of relative risk.
Limit: Blood-study sample sizes and participants' ages were not reported
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
Researchers studied 11 human aortic valves, case-control blood samples and UK Biobank data to examine interleukin 6, an immune-signaling protein. The observational analyses examined calcific aortic valve disease, in which calcium builds up in the valve.
The protein increased across non-diseased, scarred and calcified valve stages. Higher blood levels were associated with later aortic stenosis, or valve narrowing, after adjustment for other factors. The hazard ratio was 1.24; for related adverse events, it was 1.19. These are relative measures, not absolute risk estimates. In separate experiments, an antibody that neutralized interleukin 6 reduced signs of calcification in two mouse models and cells taken from human valves.
Why it matters
Calcific valve disease is an age-related heart condition. The study points to a candidate blood marker and possible therapeutic target for further investigation.
Caveats
The blood findings were observational and do not establish cause or show that blocking interleukin 6 benefits people. This conference abstract did not report blood-study sample sizes or participants’ ages.
- Interleukin 6-neutralizing antibody
- IL-6 signaling
- JAK–STAT signaling
- Calcific aortic valve disease
- Aortic valve stenosis
- Humans
