People with lower interleukin-6 activity have a reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases, a new LMU study reveals.<\/p>\n
Lowering the activity of interleukin-6 (IL-6) – a key immune signal regulating inflammatory responses in the body – could reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease without making people more vulnerable to infections, according to new research from LMU’s Institute for Stroke and Dementia Research and international collaborators.<\/p>\n
The team led by Dr. Marios Georgakis, Junior Group Leader at the Institute for Stroke and Dementia Research (ISD) and member of the SyNergy cluster of excellence, used large-scale human genetic analyses to mimic the effects of drugs that block IL-6. Previous genetic studies had focused on variants in the IL6R gene, which encodes not IL-6 itself but the corresponding receptor. “These studies suggested that suppressing the IL-6 receptor could be associated with cardiovascular benefits, but raised concerns about increased infection risk,” explains Georgakis. Whether these findings would translate to under-development drugs that directly inhibit IL-6 remained unclear. And so the LMU researchers turned their attention to genes that encode IL-6.<\/p>\n
In the new study, published in Nature Cardiovascular Research, they analyzed genetic data from over half a million people of European and East Asian ancestry. They found that individuals carrying variants in the IL6 gene linked to lower IL-6 signaling had a reduced lifetime risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, and peripheral artery disease. Strikingly, these variants were also associated with a lower risk of pneumonia and sepsis – countering fears that blocking IL-6 might impair the body’s ability to fight infections.<\/p>\n
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Our study shows that genetic variants mimicking IL-6 inhibition are associated with lower cardiovascular risk and, potentially, even a lower risk of specific infections.”<\/p>\n
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Lanyue Zhang, first author of the paper<\/p>\n
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“Our findings highlight how human genetics can be used to anticipate the benefits and risks of new therapies. The results support both the efficacy<\/a> and safety potential of under-development IL-6 inhibitors currently in clinical trials for cardiovascular disease,” says Georgakis. The genetic evidence also pointed to potential improvements in type 2 diabetes risk and lipid profiles, hinting at broader metabolic benefits.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Source:<\/p>\n Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen (LMU)<\/a><\/p>\n Journal reference:<\/p>\n