on October 5, 2006
Published online before print October 5, 2006, doi: 10.1161/01.ATV.0000248534.30057.b5
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Submitted on July 14, 2006
Accepted on September 20, 2006
Inflammatory Response After Influenza Vaccination in Men With and Without Carotid Artery Disease
Cara L. Carty ;
From The University of Washington, Departments of Epidemiology (C.L.C.), Biostatistics (P.H.), and Medicine (Division of Medical Genetics) (K.N., E.C.M., J.L., D.L., E.B., B.R.S., J.R., T.B., C.F., G.P.J.), Seattle, Wash; Puget Sound Veterans Affairs Health Care System (C.M.-G.), Seattle, Wash.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: pair{at}u.washington.edu.
Objective--Inflammatory markers are associated with vascular disease; however, variation in the acute phase response (APR) has not been evaluated. We evaluated whether the APR magnitude in men with severe carotid artery disease (CAAD) (>80% stenosis) differed from that of men without stenosis (<15% stenosis).
Methods and Results--White males with (n=43) and without (n=61) severe CAAD receiving clinical influenza vaccinations were recruited. Their baseline and 24-hour after -vaccination blood samples were assayed for C-reactive protein (CRP), IL-6, and serum amyloid-a (SAA). In vivo APR to vaccination was measurable and varied among subjects. Adjusted for age, smoking, oral hypoglycemics, aspirin, and stain use, the relative 24-hour changes in levels of ln(CRP), ln(IL-6), and ln(SAA) were higher in men with CAAD than in men without, but only the SAA response was significant (P=0.02); the relative SAA response was 1.6 (95% confidence interval, 1.1 to 2.5) times higher in men with than without CAAD. The APR for all markers appeared to be independent of baseline levels.
Conclusions--Influenza vaccination results in a mild, but measurable, APR in men with and without CAAD. SAA APR variability may be a predictor of severe vascular disease that is independent of basal SAA level.