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Intravenous Cocaine Results in an Acute Decrease in Levels of Biomarkers of Vascular Inflammation in Humans

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Abstract

Cocaine use causes significant cardiovascular morbidity from its hemodynamic effects. It is less clear whether cocaine promotes atherosclerosis. Vascular inflammation is one of the earliest steps in the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis. We hypothesized that cocaine results in an increase in inflammatory markers. Study objective was to measure the acute effects of intravenous cocaine on biomarkers of vascular inflammation. Eleven chronic cocaine users were enrolled. After a drug-free period, they received intravenous cocaine at 0.36 mg/kg dose in an in-hospital controlled environment. Serum levels of soluble CD40 ligand, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, interleukin 6, and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 were measured at baseline, 6 h, 24 h, and 6 days after cocaine challenge and at baseline for controls. After cocaine challenge, sCD40 ligand levels decreased in subjects and were significantly lower at 24 h. MCP-1 levels decreased and were significantly lower at the 6-day time point. No significant changes in IL-6 or sICAM-1 level were found. In conclusion, intravenous cocaine did not result in an increase in levels of inflammatory markers. Levels of MCP-1 and sCD40L decreased significantly. This unexpected finding suggests that chronic effects of cocaine on inflammation may be different from acute effects or that higher dosing may have differential effects as compared to lower dose used here.

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Acknowledgements

Research seed grant from VISN 15, Department of Veterans Affairs awarded to K Gupta, and Grant 589-KG-0012 from the Medical Research Service, Department of Veterans Affairs awarded to K Grasing. NIH Grants R01-HL070101 and 3R01-HL070101-04S1 awarded to K Dileepan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Kansas City, MO, USA

    Kamal Gupta

  2. Kansas City VA Medical Center, Kansas City, MO, 64128, USA

    Rishi Sharma, Vikas Singh & Kenneth Grasing

  3. Division of Allergy, Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, 66160, USA

    Kottarappat N. Dileepan & Donald D. Smith

  4. Department of Biostatistics, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, 66160, USA

    Jianghua He

  5. Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of Kansas Medical Center, 3901 Rainbow Blvd, Kansas City, KS, 66160, USA

    Reza Masoomi & Buddhadeb Dawn

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  1. Kamal Gupta
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Correspondence to Kamal Gupta.

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The research was done at Kansa City VA Medical Center and University of Kansas Medical Center.

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Gupta, K., Sharma, R., Singh, V. et al. Intravenous Cocaine Results in an Acute Decrease in Levels of Biomarkers of Vascular Inflammation in Humans. Cardiovasc Toxicol 18, 295–303 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12012-017-9440-0

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