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Interleukin-6 as a biochemical marker in patients with acute coronary syndrome: A cross-sectional study at Erbil cardiac center

Tablo Othman Aziz
Department of Clinical biochemistry, College of Health Science, Hawler Medical University, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.
Kamaran Younis Muhammad Amin
Department of Clinical Biochemistry, University of Salahaddin, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Tablo Othman Aziz, Kamaran Younis Muhammad Amin (Author)

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Abstract

Background and objective: Despite advances in diagnosis and treatment, acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is the leading cause of death globally. Serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) is one of the biomarkers that have been recently identified for the evaluation of ACS. It has been demonstrated to be a predictor of disease severity that is independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors. This study aimed to evaluate the association between serum IL-6 levels and disease severity and other related clinical parameters in patients with ACS.

Method: This cross-sectional research comprised 180 ACS patients at Erbil surgical specialty Hospital-Cardiac Center. The participants were divided into three groups: Group I (STEMI group, 83 patients), Group II (NSTEMI group, 74 patients), and Group III (UA group, 23 patients). Each group was tested for S.IL-6, total cholesterol, HDL-C, LDL-C, VLDL-C, TG, and troponin T.

Results: The study population included 134 males (74.4%) and 46 females (25.6%), the mean age was 58.66 ± 12.0 years, ranging from 35-90 years. Correlation coefficient of serum IL-6 with other variables indicated a statistically significant positive correlation with total cholesterol, LDL-C, and troponin T among ACS types, with values of (r=0.1, P = 0.05), (r=0.2, P <0.001), and (r=0.4, P <0.001), respectively. IL-6 levels were statistically significant different between types of ACS (P < 0.001). The mean of IL-6 level in STEMI patients was (19.1 ± 0.42) pg/mL, followed by NSTEMI (15.9 ± 0.34) pg/mL and UA (10.0 ± 0.43) pg/mL.

Conclusion: The present study highlights IL-6 as a biomarker for determining ACS severity.

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How to Cite
Aziz, T. O. ., & Muhammad Amin, K. Y. (2026). Interleukin-6 as a biochemical marker in patients with acute coronary syndrome: A cross-sectional study at Erbil cardiac center . Zanco Journal of Medical Sciences (ZJMS), 30(1), 14–25. https://doi.org/10.15218/zjms.2026.002

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