Acute effects of percutaneous coronary intervention on neutrophil activation and maturity markers in coronary and peripheral circulation.

BACKGROUND

Acute inflammatory responses during and after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) are associated with subsequent cardiovascular event risk, but limited data exist on acute immune cell responses regulating PCI-related inflammation. As an exploratory pilot study, our objective was to determine whether PCI acutely alters neutrophil-specific components of activation, maturity and chemotaxis in the coronary and peripheral circulation.

METHODS

This prospective cohort study was conducted from October 2024 to January 2025 within an urban tertiary-care academic medical centre. Twenty-nine consecutive patients ≥18 years of age undergoing clinically indicated PCI were included. Paired blood samples were collected immediately pre-PCI and post-PCI from the peripheral arterial sheath (peripheral circulation) and coronary guide catheter (coronary circulation).

RESULTS

The primary endpoints were pre-PCI to post-PCI changes in immature neutrophils (CD10-CD16- subset as a total percentage of neutrophils) and neutrophil-specific expression of markers relevant for activation and degranulation (CD62L and CD63 expression). In the immediate pre-PCI to post-PCI period, there was an acute increase in CD10-CD16- neutrophil subset in the coronary blood (1.5±0.3% vs 3.4±0.8%, p=0.012) and a decrease in CD62L neutrophil expression in both the coronary (median fluorescence intensities (MFI)=1340.4±102.3 vs 1084.0±92.8, p=0.002) and peripheral circulation (CD62L MFI=1182.4±82.7 vs 1078.1±77.9, p=0.035). No differences were observed with neutrophil degranulation, chemotaxis or migration.

CONCLUSIONS

In patients undergoing PCI, we observed an acute increase in circulating neutrophil cell-specific activation and immaturity markers following PCI but no significant effects of PCI on neutrophil degranulation. Further research is needed to understand whether these effects contribute to long-term post-PCI outcomes and, if so, if neutrophil release and activation warrant targeting during PCI.