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Shear stress increases the release of interleukin-1 and interleukin-6 by aortic endothelial cells
A V Sterpetti1, A Cucina, A R Morena
1I Istituto di Clinica Chirurgica, University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy.
Background:
The aim of this study was to determine the correlation between shear stress and the release of interleukin-1 (IL-1) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) by endothelial cells (EC).
Methods:
Bovine aortic EC were seeded in fibronectin-coated cylinders at 1.0 x 10(6) cells/tube and allowed to reach confluence and to adhere for 48 hours. The experimental groups were subjected to a laminar flow of 100 ml/min (6 dyne/cm2). The control group was subjected to similar incubation conditions without flow. The release of IL-1 and IL-6 by EC was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Results:
Shear stress increased significantly (p < 0.01) the release of IL-1 and IL-6 by EC. The release of these two cytokines had different kinetics.
Conclusions:
Increasing shear stress facilitates release of IL-1 and IL-6 by EC. Previous reports have shown that IL-1 and IL-6 promote vascular smooth-muscle cell proliferation. Thus abnormal flow conditions with increasing shear stress may predispose to smooth-muscle cell proliferation that characterizes early atherosclerotic plaque development by an interleukin-mediated mechanism.