Objective: Nowadays, the widespread use of invasive procedures for coronary arteries causes a large number of patients to be exposed to contrast agents. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of radiographic contrast agents used during angiography on systemic inflammation markers.

Materials and Methods: Twenty-three patients who underwent elective diagnostic coronary angiography were included in the study. Patients with troponin elevation and disease that may affect the inflammatory response were excluded from the study. The first blood sample was taken from venous blood simultaneously with femoral artery cannulation. After sampling, diagnostic coronary angiography was performed using a similar technical approach and the same contrast agent. According to the angiographic analysis, patients were divided into two as normal coronary artery group (Group I; n=10) and lesion group (Group II; n=13). Blood samples were taken at 2, 4, 12 and 24 hours following diagnostic coronary angiography. P-selectin, E-selectin, L-selectin, intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM), vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM), IL-1, IL-2, IL-6, IL-8, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), C-reactive protein (CRP) levels to monitor serial changes in inflammatory response in both groups analyzed.

Results: An increase in all inflammatory markers was observed at the second hour following diagnostic coronary angiography. L-selectin and ICAM at 4th hour in both groups; P-selectin, E-selectin, VCAM, IL-1 and IL-2 reached their peak values at the 12th hour. While there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of inflammatory markers, statistically significant increases were observed in both groups compared to the baseline values.

Conclusion: In this study, it was found that coronary angiographic procedures increased the acute inflammatory response, more so in patients with coronary artery disease.