Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) are key mediators of inflammation and their increased plasma levels are associated with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Polymorphisms in the promoter region of IL-6 (-174 G>C) and TNF-alpha (-308 G>A) demonstrated to affect gene expression were analyzed to test their predictive power for cardiovascular death over one year follow-up in elderly male ACS patients.
Department of Cardiology, Center of Molecular Biology, Center of Statistics and Diabetologic Unit, Italian National Research Centers on Aging (INRCA), Via della Montagnola, 81, 60121 Ancona, Italy. r.antonicelli@inrca.it