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Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, July 2003, p. 525-528, Vol. 10, No. 4
1071-412X/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/CDLI.10.4.525-528.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Effect of Clarithromycin on Inflammatory Markers in Patients with Atherosclerosis

Hans F. Berg,1* Boulos Maraha,2 Gert-Jan Scheffer,3 Marcel F. Peeters,1 and Jan A. J. W. Kluytmans4

Departments of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, St. Elisabeth Hospital, Tilburg,1 Albert Schweitzer Hospital, Dordrecht,2 Department of Anesthesiology, University Medical Centre St. Radboud, Nijmegen,3 Amphia Hospital, Breda, The Netherlands4

Received 30 May 2002/ Returned for modification 8 February 2003/ Accepted 26 March 2003

Atherosclerosis can to a certain extent be regarded as an inflammatory disease. Also, inflammatory markers may provide information about cardiovascular risk. Whether macrolide antibiotics, especially clarithromycin, have an anti-inflammatory effect in patients with atherosclerosis is not exactly known. To study this phenomenon, a placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind study was performed. A total of 231 patients with documented coronary artery disease received a daily dose of either 500 mg of slow-release clarithromycin or placebo until the day of surgery. Levels of inflammatory markers (C-reactive protein, interleukin-2 receptor [IL-2R], IL-6, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor alpha) were assessed during the preoperative outpatient visit, on the day of surgery, and 8 weeks after surgery. Also, changes in the levels of inflammatory markers between visits were determined by delta calculations. Baseline patient characteristics were balanced between the two treatment groups: the average age was 66 years (standard deviation [SD] = 9.0), 79% of the patients were male, and the average number of tablets used was 16 (SD = 9.3). The inflammatory markers of the groups as well as the delta calculations were not significantly changed. Treatment with clarithromycin did not influence the inflammatory markers in patients with atherosclerosis.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: St. Elisabeth Hospital, Laboratory of Clinical Microbiology, P.O. Box 747, 5000 AS Tilburg, The Netherlands. Phone: 31 13 5392260. Fax: 31 13 5441264. E-mail: h.berg{at}elisabeth.nl.

Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, July 2003, p. 525-528, Vol. 10, No. 4
1071-412X/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/CDLI.10.4.525-528.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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