Association of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-10 levels with ultrasound characteristics of atherosclerotic plaques in patients with essential hypertension
Aim. To study the association of ultrasound characteristics of carotid atherosclerotic plaques (ASPs) with the concentration of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) in patients with essential hypertension.Material and methods. The study included 117 patients (men, 75; women, 42) with essential hypertension aged 40 to 75 years (mean age, 55,8±7,5 years). All patients underwent anthropometric measurements (height, weight, body mass index, waist circumference), assessment of blood pressure and heart rate, blood tests (levels of glucose, creatinine with the calculation of glomerular filtration rate using CKD-EPI equation, lipid profile), duplex ultrasound of the carotid arteries. Also, the blood concentration of TNFα and IL-10 by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using CYTOKIN-STIMUL-BEST (Novosibirsk,Russia) kit was determined.Results. According to the results of carotid duplex ultrasound, 3 groups of patients were identified. Group 1 included 48 patients with homogeneous hyperechoic ASPs; group 2 — 56 patients with dominant hyperechoic ASPs (>50% of areas); group 3 — 13 patients with anechoic, unstable, low-density ASPs. TNFα concentration in group 3 patients, amounting to 10,51±2.23 pg/ml, was significantly higher than in patients of group 1 (7,26±0,64 pg/ml (pConclusion. An increase in TNFα >10 pg/ml with a high specificity (95%) was associated with vulnerable unstable carotid ASPs.