Macrophages May Be Marker For Atherosclerosis

Main Category: Cardiovascular / Cardiology
Article Date: 25 Jul 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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A team of Japanese scientists report that macrophages, immune cells that send out inflammatory signals to injured tissue, may be involved in atherosclerosis, according to a new study in the latest issue of Molecular Medicine, a journal published by The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research. A marker of macrophage activity found in plasma, FcγRIIIaMo is expressed in a small subset of peripheral blood monocytes and is present in human atherosclerotic plaques.

Midori Masuda, PhD, Hakuo Takahashi, MD, and their colleagues at the Kansai Medical University in Osaka, Japan, have created an antibody that recognizes FcγRIIIaMo and found that the substance is significantly increased in patients with coronary artery disease but not in those with angina or normal coronary arteries. This suggests that macrophages "play a major role in the development of atherosclerosis," according to the scientists. In the latest study, the scientists took blood samples from patients during an annual medical checkup and studied their blood plasma for levels of FcγRIIIaMo. The level increased with age and was associated with body mass index, blood pressure, LDL to HDL cholesterol ratio, trigylcerides, hemoglobin A1C and creatinine. As risk factors for atherosclerosis increased so did levels of this substance. FcγRIIIaMo was also correlated with the thickness of the carotid artery. This suggests that macrophages are activated during the beginning stages of atherosclerosis and that FcγRIIIaMo could be used as a marker of incipient disease.

Also in the July-August issue:

The Feinstein Institute's Ping Wang, MD, and his colleagues purified and characterized a human protein adrenomedullin binding protein-1 a molecule that has potent activity on the body's immune system. The molecule is being developed and tested as a treatment for sepsis, hemorrhagic shock and ischemic injury.

Carl Nathan, MD, of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, explained how inflammation is intimately involved with the growing obesity epidemic and how this maladaptive immune response could be targeted to treat obesity.

To read any of these studies visit the journal's web site at http://www.molmed.org and listen to this month's podcast by the journal's Associate Editor Margot Puerta. Molecular Medicine is published by the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research. For more information on the study, visit http://www.molmed.org.

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