Interleukin-8 (IL-8) may contribute to the activation of neutrophils in patients with peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD).

Abstract

to investigate the levels of interleukin-8 (IL-8) in patients with peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) and healthy control subjects both before and after an acute exercise test. twenty-six patients with intermittent claudication and 22 matched healthy control subjects each had IL-8 levels measured before and after a standard acute treadmill-exercise test. Subjects walked for 10 min or until stopped by claudication pain. Serum IL-8 levels were measured before exercise was commenced and 1, 5 and 10 min after exercise was stopped. patients with PAOD had statistically significantly higher levels of IL-8 than healthy control subjects, before and after an acute exercise test (p <0.00001, Mann-Whitney). Ratios of the change of IL-8 levels post-exercise showed a statistically significant difference at the post-5-min time point (p =0.005), showing a difference in the change of IL-8 levels at this time point between the patient group and control group. The increased levels and the failure of the cytokine levels to fall by the same extent after exercise in the patient group may be due to a combination of increased neutrophil activation, reduced blood flow and increased cytokine production during ischaemia-reperfusion, which is not observed in the healthy controls.