Serum macrophage migration inhibitory factor is correlated with atrial fibrillation.

OBJECTIVE: Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a proinflammatory cytokine secreted by macrophages. This study is performed to investigate whether serum MIF is correlated with atrial fibrillation (AF).

METHODS: Totally, 186 AF patients and 103 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. AF patients were then divided into paroxysmal AF, persistent AF, and permanent AF subgroups.

RESULTS: There were higher serum MIF concentrations in AF patients than in healthy subjects. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that serum MIF was associated with AF. Permanent AF patients exhibited higher serum MIF concentrations than persistent and paroxysmal AF subgroups. Elevated serum MIF concentrations were found in persistent AF patients compared with paroxysmal AF patients. Moreover, serum MIF concentrations were associated with left atrial diameter after Spearman correlation analysis.