Linking Cardiac Autonomic Dysfunction and InfLammation in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndromes

Subclinical inflammation plays a critical role in all stages of the atherosclerotic process, from the initiation of the fatty streaks to the development of plaque instability and rupture, causing myocardial ischemia and acute coronary syndromes (ACS). A few studies have suggested that the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and the inflammatory response are intimately linked. Accordingly, a relation between impaired cardiac autonomic tone and increased markers of inflammation has been reported in healthy subjects as well as in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus, chronic coronary syndrome or decompensated heart failure. To get insight in the controversial relationship between cardiac autonomic dysfunction and inflammation in patients with ACS both with and without obstructive CAD and assess the precise mechanisms and molecular pathways by which these two pathophysiological conditions mutually influence each other, to characterize their prognostic implications and identify possible targets for novel therapeutic strategies.