Inflammatory activation and endothelial dysfunction markers in patients with permanent atrial fibrillation: A cross-sectional study

In recent years a growing body of evidence supported the role of inflammation in the initiation, maintenance and outcome of atrial fibrillation (AF). Nevertheless, despite a large amount of information, whether AF or the underlying structural heart disease (SHD) is the cause of the inflammatory process is still under debate. We, therefore, sought to determine if the inflammatory process reflect an underlying disease or the arrhythmia 'per se'. We evaluated plasma levels of soluble Interleukin 2 Receptor Alpha (sIL-2Rα), TNF-α and IL-18 in 100 consecutive patients with permanent AF, (43 with a SHD and 57 without a SHD) compared to 121 age and sex-matched controls which had normal sinus rhyth…