Leuk-ALIVE v1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Low-dose interleukin-2 after myocardial infarction to investigate effects on tissue-resident regulatory T cells
IRAS ID
354910
Contact name
Tian Zhao
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Cambridge
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Chest tightness during exertion (angina), heart attack, and stroke cause long-term disability and death for millions of patients worldwide every year. These conditions are caused by the narrowing of the blood vessels, known as atherosclerosis. This process is the result of fat build-up in the blood vessel wall, and the immune system's long-term over-activation called inflammation. After a heart attack or stroke, the resulting inflammation can worsen heart and brain damage, and speed up atherosclerosis progression. Frustratingly, despite knowing all this, we are currently unable to reduce inflammation in the blood vessels.
In our previous study, we administered low-doses of an immune hormone called interleukin-2 to reduce inflammation in patients after a heart attack as measured in blood samples. We are currently studying the effects of interleukin-2 on large blood vessel narrowings in the neck. To help us further develop this concept, we next need to find out if interleukin-2 is also decreasing inflammation in the blood vessels around the heart and also in the heart muscle itself.
To achieve this, we plan to randomise 24 patients already planning to undergo open-heart surgery at Royal Papworth
Hospital to 3 groups. One group (8 patients) will have standard of care (control group), two groups (8 patients in each)
will have interleukin-2 treatment (daily injection under the skin for 5 days given on the ward) at two test dose groups.
This treatment will be given before surgery and at the time of surgery we will collect various tissues, including vessels,
fat and bone marrow, which are normally discarded, and examine them using state-of-the-art techniques to see if
interleukin-2 is having the desired effects of reducing inflammation.This study will be an important step towards understanding the effect of interleukin-2 in patients to improve the healing process, prevent further heart attacks and strokes, and therefore reduce disability and death.
REC name
East of Scotland Research Ethics Service REC 2
REC reference
25/ES/0094
Date of REC Opinion
18 Nov 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion