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Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death in the United States. Increasing evidence suggests involvement of inflammation in the atherosclerotic process. We examined cytokines and other inflammatory markers in 865 patients with chest pain in whom coronary angiography revealed no evidence of CAD or CAD with or without concomitant myocardial infarction (MI). We developed a multiplexed immunoassay to simultaneously assess the plasma concentrations of 8 cytokines (interferon γ, interleukin [IL]-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, and tumor necrosis factor α), IL-2r, and soluble CD40 ligand in the patient groups. Concentrations of C-reactive protein (CRP) and IL-18 also were determined. Significant differences (P < .05) between no CAD and combined CAD groups were found for IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-12, and IL-18. When the no CAD group was compared with the group with CAD with subsequent …