MODULAZIONE DELLA RISPOSTA INFIAMMATORIA NELLA PREVENZIONE DELLA RESTENOSI POST STENT CORONARICO: IL TRIAL CLINICO MULTICENTRICO RANDOMIZZATO “CEREA-DES”

Objective: it is known that coronary atherosclerosis and in-stent restenosis are largely ruled by inflammatory mechanisms. This study enrolled patients with coronary artery disease amenable to percutaneous coronary interventions and stent implantation. Its aim was to compare the clinical outcome obtained in a control group of patients treated with bare metal stent (BMS) versus other two study groups: BMS plus oral prednisone or drug eluting stents (DES), all assuming similar optimal adjunctive medical treatment. In a subgroup of patients the release of interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumour necrosis factor (TNF-a) and NF-kB activation in circulating monocytes were studied and also related with the neointimal growth that follows bare metal stent (BMS) implantation. Methods: five tertiary Italian hospitals enrolled 375 non-diabetic patients with coronary artery disease and no contraindications to dual anti-platelet treatment or corticosteroid therapy in a randomized, controlled, independent study performed between 2007 and 2009. Patients were allocated into three study groups of 125 patients each: BMS (controlgroup), BMS followed by a 40-day prednisone treatment (BMS and prednisone group) or DES (DES group). Primary endpoint was the event-free survival of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction and recurrence of ischemia needing repeated target vessel revascularization at one year as adjudicated by an independent clinical events committee. Moreover, 40 patients (20 from the control group and 20 from the Prednisone group) entered the monocyte activation sub-study. The release of IL-6, TNF-a and NF-kB p50 subunit translocation at baseline, at 10 and 30 days were evaluated from peripheral non-stimulated and stimulated (LPS and PMA) monocytes. Late luminal loss (LLL) 9 months after angioplasty was calculated by quantitative coronary angiography. Results: one-year follow-up was obtained in all patients. Patients receiving BMS alone as compared to those treated with prednisone or DES had lower event-free survival; the primary endpoint was 80.8% in controls compared to 88.0% in the BMS and prednisone and 88.8% in the DES groups respectively (p=0.04 and p=0.006). The benefits of the steroids appear to be restricted to patients with an activated inflammation, identified by an elevated hs-PCR. Prednisone therapy resulted well tolerated and generally associated with mild and reversible side effects. Plasma concentrations of prednisone correlated inversely with IL-6 and TNF-a release (R2 = 0.45,p = 0.04 and R2 = 0.69, p = 0.005, respectively) and NF-kB activation from monocytes (R2 = 0.58, p = 0.01). The reduction of TNF-a release and NF-kB activation were significantly related (R2 = 0.56, p = 0.01). Prednisone patients showed a significantly larger reduction of cytokine release and NF-kB activation compared to non-treated patients, at 10 days and 30 days. LLL was lower in the prednisone group (0.44±0.35mm versus 0.80±0.53mm, p = 0.02) and correlated with reduction of TNF-a (R2 = 0.41,p = 0.01). Conclusions: as compared with BMS alone, prednisone treatment after BMS or DES implantation result in a better event-free survival at one year. Previous observations on the benefits of the steriods in patients with active inflammation (elevated hs-PCR) are confirmed. High doses of oral prednisone reduce NF-kB pathway activation and pro-inflammatory cytokine release in circulating activated monocytes of patients treated with coronary stenting. TNF-a release reduction correlates with decreased LLL, confirming a potential benefit of steroid therapy in preventing in-stent restenosis.