Markers of eosinophilic inflammation and risk prediction in patients with coronary artery disease

Background The eotaxin family comprises three distinct peptides (eotaxin, eotaxin‐2 and eotaxin‐3) which have been implicated in eosinophilic inflammation. In vitro and clinical studies suggest that eotaxins could play a role in vascular inflammation, but no data are available on their prognostic significance in patients with angiographically documented coronary artery disease (CAD). Materials and methods Baseline plasma samples were obtained from 1014 patients with documented CAD. We tested the predictive effect of markers of eosinophilic inflammation and C‐reactive protein (CRP) on death from cardiovascular causes and nonfatal myocardial infarction over a 2·7–4·1‐year follow‐up period. Results Unexpectedly, lower eotaxin‐3 concentrations were observed in patients with adverse cardiovascular events, whereas both eotaxin and eotaxin‐2 showed no association with risk. After adjustment for most potential confounders, patients in the upper‐quartile of eotaxin‐3 levels had a 0·42 hazard‐ratio (95% CI, 0·29–0·61, P