Dynamic evaluation of peripheral blood cytokines in former COVID-19 patients with acute coronary syndrome

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the level of cytokines in the blood serum of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) who had and did not have COVID-19 in the dynamics of the disease and treatment. Our objectives were as follows: To identify groups of patients with ACS who had previously suffered from COVID-19 and who did not have this disease; to determine cytokine levels initially and over time in 2 groups of patients, i.e., those with and without previous COVID-19. Measurement of cytokine levels was carried out in 20 male patients with ACS without a history of COVID-19 and ACS patients with post-COVID syndrome. The contents of cytokines were determined by multiplex analysis on a MagPix 100 device using a test system from BioRad (USA) for 17 cytokines. As based on the data obtained, one may note that in patients who recovered from COVID-19, compared with persons without previous COVID-19, IL-10, IL-1β, IL-8 levels were significantly lower, and IL-13, IL-6, MCP-1 contents were increased. In the course of time, a statistically significant decrease (p 0.05) was found in patients who had previously had COVID-19 for IL-10, IL-13, IL- 2, IL-6, MCP-1, MIP-1β, TNFα, whereas IL-8 levels were increased (p 0.05). In patients without a history of COVID-19, a statistically significant decrease was revealed in dynamics for IFNγ, IL-6, MCP-1, MIP-1β, TNFα, along with increase in IL-8 contents (p 0.05). Patients with post-COVID syndrome, compared with those without a history of COVID-19, had a higher content of pro-inflammatory cytokines, in particular, IL-6, IL-8, MCP-1. In the time dynamics after complex therapy (drug and stenting of coronary arteries), there was an improvement in some indices 28 days later. In particular, in both groups (those previously ill, versus not exposed to COVID-19), the following pro-inflammatory cytokines were decreased significantly (p 0.05): IL-6, IL-8, MCP-1, MCP-1β, TNFα. Meanwhile, the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 was increased (p 0.05). Hence, the disturbances in regulation of immunity and, first of all, in chemokine parameters, were obtained in the patients with post-COVID syndrome and ACS, in contrast to the persons with ACS who was not previously affected by COVID-19. In patients with acute coronary syndrome who have recovered from COVID-19, we have found a more pronounced disruption of cytokine regulation of immune system than in patients who did not suffer from the coronavirus infection.