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Background: Psychosocial stress and depression have been recognized as major risk factors of coronary artery disease (CAD). Although monocytes are known to be key players in atherosclerosis, monocyte-based associations with psychoneuroendocrino-immuno-inflammatory (PNI) markers have not been widely investigated in stable CAD. Objective: We examined associations between the monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR) and key PNI markers in stable CAD. Methods: We studied 23 patients with stable CAD who completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Rahe's Brief Stress and Coping Inventory. A white blood cell differential was performed, and levels of cortisol, chromogranin A (CgA), LL-37, interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP) were assayed in plasma. Results: Monocyte fraction, MLR and plasma CgA levels exceeded reference values, the social support score was low, and 7 patients had elevated BDI scores. In the multivariate-adjusted analysis, a higher MLR was associated with greater depressive symptom severity (r = 0.624, p < 0.01) as well as with higher concentrations of CgA (r = 0.660, p < 0.01), LL-37 (r = 0.643, p < 0.01), IL-6 (r = 0.532, p < 0.05) and CRP (r = 0.470, p < 0.05). BDI scores associated with CgA concentration (r = 0.618, p < 0.01) and CgA level correlated negatively with the social support score (r = -0.511, p < 0.05). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that, in patients with stable CAD, elevated MLR may be associated with depressive symptoms, with increased neuroendocrine-sympathetic activity (marked by CgA) and inflammatory markers that are pertinent to atherosclerosis initiation and progression. The increased neuroendocrine-sympathetic activity correlated with low social support and depressive symptom severity. The MLR might serve as an easy-to-obtain and inexpensive proxy measure of an activated PNI network in stable CAD.

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BackgroundPsychosocial stress and activation of neutrophil granulocytes are increasingly recognized as major risk factors of coronary artery disease (CAD), but the possible relationship of these two factors in CAD patients is largely unexplored. Activation of neutrophils was reported to be associated with stenting; however, the issue of neutrophil state in connection with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is incompletely understood from the aspect of stress and its hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) background. Thus, we aimed to study cortisol- and ACTH-associated changes in granulocyte activation in patients undergoing PCI.Methodology/Principal FindingsBlood samples of 21 stable angina pectoris (SAP) and 20 acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients were collected directly before (pre-PCI), after (post-PCI) and on the following day of PCI (1d-PCI). Granulocyte surface L-selectin, CD15 and (neutrophil-specific) lactoferrin were analysed by flow cytometry. Plasma cortisol, ACTH, and lactoferrin, IL-6 were also assayed. In both groups, pre- and post-PCI ratios of lactoferrin-bearing neutrophils were relatively high, these percentages decreased substantially next day; similarly, 1d-PCI plasma lactoferrin was about half of the post-PCI value (all p≤0.0001). Post-PCI ACTH was reduced markedly next day, especially in ACS group (SAP: p<0.01, ACS: p≤0.0001). In ACS, elevated pre-PCI cortisol decreased considerably a day after stenting (p<0.01); in pre-PCI samples, cortisol correlated with plasma lactoferrin (r∼0.5, p<0.05). In 1d-PCI samples of both groups, ACTH showed negative associations with the ratio of lactoferrin-bearing neutrophils (SAP: r = −0.601, p<0.005; ACS: r = −0.541, p<0.05) and with plasma lactoferrin (SAP: r = −0.435, p<0.05; ACS: r = −0.609, p<0.005).Conclusions/SignificancePre- and post-PCI states were associated with increased percentage of activated/degranulated neutrophils indicated by elevated lactoferrin parameters, the 1d-PCI declines of which were associated with plasma ACTH in both groups. The correlation of plasma cortisol with plasma lactoferrin in the extremely stressed ACS before stenting, however, suggests an association of cortisol with neutrophil activation.

Objective The primary aim of this study was to examine whether markers of cell damage and of the psycho-neuroendocrino-inflammatory/immune (PNI) system could be associated in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) on the next day following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Materials and methods Blood samples of 23 patients (18 men and five women, mean age 62.9 ± 10.6 years), were collected immediately before (pre-PCI), immediately after (post-PCI), and on the day following PCI (1d-PCI). Lactoferrin, LL-37 and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were assayed in plasma, in addition to cortisol and chromogranin A (CgA), as well as CK, ASAT and ALAT. Total and differential leukocyte counts were also analysed. Results At all the three time points, the monocyte fractions, the monocyte-to-lymphocyte and the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratios and CgA levels were elevated. We detected significant peri-procedural changes in the plasma levels of our PNI markers: IL-6 (p<0.05), lactoferrin, LL-37 (both: p <0.0001), CgA (p<0.05), and cortisol (p<0.01). On the first day after PCI, highly significant associations were found of ASAT with IL-6 and neutrophil count (both: r>0.75, p<0.0001), and of CgA with neutrophil count and monocyte count (both: r>0.79, p<0.0001); furthermore, cortisol was also associated with neutrophil count (r>0.7, p<0.0001). Conclusions The findings suggest that myocardial damage could correlate not only with an inflammatory reaction but, via neutrophil count, also with increased level of stress in stable CAD after PCI. Furthermore, 1d-PCI neutrophil count may serve as an easy-to-obtain integrative PNI measure in stable CAD.