A comparative study of interleukin 6 and 17 serum levels in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery using off-pump and on-pump methods

Introduction: This study aims to investigate the role of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery by off-pump and on-pump methods in the severity of postoperative inflammation based on serum levels of interleukin 6 (IL6) and interleukin 17 (IL17). Methods: This is a cross-sectional study in which 39 patients’ candidate for CABG were evaluated in terms of serum levels of IL17 and IL6 before and after surgery in two groups of off-pump and on-pump CABG. Results: Thirty-nine patients with an average age of 63±8.9 in the on-pump group and 59±7.74 in the off-pump group were evaluat- ed. There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of baseline information and underlying diseases. IL6 serum level (p=0.249) was not significantly difference between the two groups. However, IL17 serum level (p=0.012) demonstrated a signif- icant difference between the two groups. Conclusion: In general, the results of this study showed that increased IL6 serum level following coronary artery bypass was not different between the two methods of CABG surgery. Besides, IL17 exhibited a significant difference between the two groups that it was reduced in on-pump group after surgery. It can be due to special condition’s patients or low sample size of study. More- over, the postoperative complications were not significantly different between the two groups. This valuable outcome contradicts the popular belief that the use of the CARDIO PULMONARY BYPASS (CPB) system stimulates the immune system and hence its application should be limited.