As IL-1β can be produced by the nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain, leucine-rich repeat and pyrin domains-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome, this study determined whether RLX targeted the inflammasome to inhibit the profibrotic TGF-β1/IL-1β axis in primary human cardiac myofibroblasts (HCMFs) <i>in vitro</i> and in mice with isoproterenol (ISO)-induced cardiomyopathy <i>in vivo</i>.
This biological framework, which is also involved in progression of cardiomyopathy in humans, is more pronounced in HIV-infected patients, in whom proinflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha, IL-1 and IL-6 are increased, resulting in an enhanced expression of cardiac iNOS, especially in patients with a low CD4 T cell count.
In this study we identified the location and phenotype of cells containing IL-1 beta in human coronary artery specimens from patients suffering from either coronary atherosclerosis or cardiomyopathy and correlated the presence of IL-1 beta with disease severity.