Expansive Arterial Remodeling Is Associated With Increased Neointimal Macrophage Foam Cell Content
- 4 June 2002
- journal article
- Published by Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) in Circulation
- Vol. 105 (22), 2686-2691
- https://doi.org/10.1161/01.cir.0000016825.17448.11
Abstract
Background — Recent observations associate plaque instability with expansive arterial remodeling, suggesting a common driving mechanism. Methods and Results — To demonstrate that macrophages, a characteristic of vulnerable plaques, also assist in expansive remodeling, we compared carotid artery remodeling due to formation of experimental macrophage-rich and macrophage-poor lesions in the flow cessation model in hypercholesterolemic apolipoprotein E knockout (ApoE KO) and wild type (WT) mice. After ligation, macrophages started to rapidly accumulate in ApoE KO but not in WT carotid artery lesions. Macrophage-rich ApoE KO intimal lesions grew fast, typically occluding within 14 days, despite a tripling of the vessel area. Outward remodeling of macrophage-rich ApoE KO arteries positively correlated with macrophage area ( r 2 =0.600, P Conclusions — Our results suggest that macrophages facilitate expansive arterial remodeling through increased matrix degradation by matrix metalloproteinases. This initially favorable remodeling action may eventually increase the vulnerability of macrophage-rich atherosclerotic plaques.Keywords
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