• Fusa Ogata, Katsuhito Fujiu, Sahohime Matsumoto, Yukiteru Nakayama, Munehiko Shibata, Yuichi Oike, Isao Koshima, Tetsuro Watabe, Ryozo Nagai, and Ichiro Manabe.
• Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, the University of Tokyo, Hongo, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Plastic and Reconstruction Surgery, the University of Tokyo, Hongo, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan.
• J. Invest. Dermatol. 2016 Mar 1; 136 (3): 706-714.

AbstractLymphedema is a debilitating progressive condition that severely restricts quality of life and is frequently observed after cancer surgery. The mechanism underlying lymphedema development remains poorly understood, and no effective pharmacological means to prevent or alleviate the ailment is currently available. Using a mouse model of lymphedema, we show here that excessive generation of immature lymphatic vessels is essential for initial edema development and that this early process is also important for later development of lymphedema pathology. We found that CD4(+) T cells interact with macrophages to promote lymphangiogenesis, and that both lymphangiogenesis and edema were greatly reduced in macrophage-depleted mice, lymphocyte-deficient Rag2(?/?) mice or CD4(+) T-cell-deficient mice. Mechanistically, T helper type 1 and T helper type 17 cells activate lesional macrophages to produce vascular endothelial growth factor-C, which promotes lymphangiogenesis, and inhibition of this mechanism suppressed not only early lymphangiogenesis, but also later development of lymphedema. Finally, we show that atorvastatin suppresses excessive lymphangiogenesis and lymphedema by inhibiting T helper type 1 and T helper type 17 cell activation. These results demonstrate that the interaction between CD4(+) T cells and macrophages is a potential therapeutic target for prevention of lymphedema after surgery. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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