Interleukin-1 blockade with Anakinra and heart failure following ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction: results from a pooled analysis of the VCUART clinical trials

Aims ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is associated with an intense acute inflammatory response and an increased risk of death and heart failure (HF). In this study we sought to evaluate the effect of anakinra, a recombinant interleukin-1 receptor antagonist, on the incidence of HF. Methods and Results We performed a pooled analysis of three early phase randomized clinical trials. The endpoints included the composite of all-cause death and new-onset HF, and the composite of all-cause death and hospitalization for HF at 1 year follow-up. Safety events, including injection site reaction and serious infections, were also recorded. We analyzed 139 patients with STEMI from three separate trials: VCUART (N = 10), VCUART2 (N = 30), and VCUART3 (N = 99). Of these, 84 (60%) patients were randomized to anakinra and 55 (40%) to placebo. Treatment with anakinra significantly reduced the incidence of all-cause death or new-onset HF (7 [8.2%] vs 16 [29.1%], log-rank P = 0.002) and of all-cause death or HF hospitalization (0 [0] vs 5 [9.1%], log-rank P = 0.007). Patients treated with anakinra had significantly higher injection site reactions (19 [22.6%] vs 3 [5.5%], P = 0.016) without a significant difference in the incidence of serious infections (11 [13.1%] vs 7 [12.7%], P = 0.435). Treatment with anakinra significantly reduced the area under the curve for high-sensitivity C-Reactive-Protein between baseline and 14 days (75.48 [41.7–147.47] vs 222.82 [222.82 [117.22–399.28] mg•day/L, P < 0.001) Conclusions IL-1 blockade with anakinra for 14 days in patients with STEMI reduces the incidence of new onset HF or hospitalization for HF at 1 year following STEMI.