The Impact of Remote Ischemic Preconditioning on Inflammation Markers in Patients Undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting.

Background: This study aimed to investigate if remote ischemic preconditioning reduces the inflammatory process on patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).

Methods: We conducted a case-control study involving 80 patients, half of whom underwent ischemic preconditioning for severe coronary artery disease (CAD) and subsequently underwent CABG. We assessed interleukin (IL)-1 and IL-6 levels using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method, high-sensitivity troponin I (hsTnI) using chemiluminescent immunoassay (CLIA), and C-reactive protein (CRP) using the turbidimetric method at three key time points: before surgery (visit 1 or V1), immediately postoperatively (visit 2 or V2), and 1 week postoperatively (visit 3 or V3) in all subjects.

Results: Ischemic preconditioned patients showed a significant decrease in proinflammatory markers (IL-1, IL-6) but not in CRP or hsTnI.

Conclusions: This study demonstrated that remote ischemic preconditioning significantly reduced the levels of specific proinflammatory markers (IL-1 and IL-6), which may suggest general systemic protection. However, it did not demonstrate cardioprotection per se, as evidenced by the absence of a statistically significant decrease in hsTnI level.