Recombinant human interleukin-1 receptor antagonist provides cardioprotection during myocardial ischemia reperfusion in the mouse.

PURPOSE: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) drives an intense inflammatory response that contributes to infarct healing and cardiac remodeling. Recently, different studies have identified a role of interleukin-1 (IL-1) in the development of adverse cardiac remodeling. However, in animal models of AMI IL-1 has been shown to be cardioprotective in preconditioning, raising the question of clinical safety of therapeutic IL-1 blockade for autoinflammatory diseases or for the prevention or the treatment of AMI. In this study we proposed to evaluate the effects of pretreatment with recombinant human interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (rhIL-1Ra) on ischemia reperfusion (I/R) injury to the heart.
METHODS: RhIL-1Ra was given 4 h or 30 min before the surgical induction of I/R. Left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF) and infarct size were assessed to determine the effects of the drug pretreatment compared to vehicle treated mice.
RESULTS: RhIL-1Ra, given 4 h or 30 min before the onset of the ischemia, showed marked cardioprotection though preservation of the LVEF (no change vs sham operated mice) and the reduction of the infarct size (-40 % vs vehicle-treated mice). No differences were observed between the two groups of rhIL-1Ra treatment.
CONCLUSIONS: IL-1 blockade therapies using rhIL-1Ra prior the onset of AMI protects the myocardium and preserves cardiac function.