Fatty acid profile in erythrocyte membranes and plasma phospholipids affects significantly the extent of inflammatory response to coronary stent implantation.

In coronary heart disease, the treatment of significant stenosis by percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with stent implantation elicits local and systemic inflammatory responses. This study was aimed at evaluation of the dynamics of inflammatory response and elucidation of the relationship between the fatty acid profile of red blood cell (RBC) membranes or plasma phospholipids and inflammation after PCI. High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), serum amyloid A (SAA), malondialdehyde (MDA) and the fatty acid profiles were determined in patients with advanced coronary artery disease undergoing PCI before, 24 h and 48 h after drug-eluting stent implantation (n=36). Patients after PCI exhibited a significant increase in studied markers (hsCRP, IL-6, SAA, MDA). Many significant associations were found between the increase of IL-6, resp. SAA and the amounts of n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (namely linoleic, dihomo-gamma-linolenic, docosatetraenoic and docosapentaenoic acid), resp. saturated fatty acids (pentadecanoic, stearic, nonadecanoic) in erythrocyte membranes. The magnitude of the inflammatory response to PCI is related to erythrocyte membrane fatty acid profile, which seems to be a better potential predictor of elevation of inflammatory markers after PCI than plasma phospholipids.