Increased serum levels of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor in hypercholesterolemic patients

Abstract

Background: Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is a cytokine that may be implicated in multicellular events of the atherosclerotic inflammatory process. Methods: To investigate the impact of hypercholesterolemia on serum levels of GM-CSF, we determined circulating GM-CSF, soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1), and soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) in 25 hypercholesterolemic patients with no clinical evidence of cardiovascular disease and in 15 normocholesterolemic control subjects who were matched for age and sex to the hypercholesterolemic group. Results: Hypercholesterolemic patients had higher levels of GM-CSF than did controls (5.8±2.1 vs. 2.1±0.9 pg/ml, P<0.05). They also displayed increased serum levels of sICAM-1 (236.1±19.7 vs. 183.5±13.1, P<0.01) and of sVCAM-1 (673.8±27.3 vs. 591.3±23.4, P<0.01). A significant correlation was observed between GM-CSF levels and LDL-C values ( r=0.58, P<0.01) as well as between GM-CSF and sICAM-1 levels ( r=0.78, P<0.001). Conclusions: These results suggest that hypercholesterolemia is associated with elevated serum GM-CSF levels. The increased levels of circulating GM-CSF in hypercholesterolemic patients may be related to the monocyte/endothelial cell adhesive interaction and subsequent inflammatory process that accompany the hypercholesterolemia and characterize the early stages of atherogenesis.