Atherosclerosis
-
To determine the strength and consistency with which a low ankle brachial pressure index (ABI), measured in the general population, is associated with an increased risk of subsequent death and/or cardiovascular events. ⋯ The ABI may help to identify asymptomatic individuals in the general population who are at increased risk of subsequent cardiovascular events. Evaluation is now required of the potential of incorporating ABI measurement into cardiovascular prevention programmes.
-
Phosphorylcholine (PC) headgroup is one of the neoantigens exposed by LDL oxidation that can elicit an immune response. Active immunization with Streptococcus pneumoniae, which bears PC on its cell wall, reduced atherosclerosis in hypercholesterolemic mice and this effect was attributed to an immune response to PC. In this study we tested the hypothesis that passive immunization with a monoclonal anti-PC IgM antibody can be athero-protective in a murine model of native aortic and vein graft atherosclerosis. ⋯ Immunization did not affect circulating cholesterol levels. Taken together our data suggest that passive immunization with anti-PC IgM significantly reduces vein graft lesion size with less inflammatory phenotype without affecting cholesterol levels, indicating an athero-protective immune response to PC. Lack of effect on established native aortic lesions may have been due to short duration of therapy and/or reduced efficacy in established lesions as compared to evolving lesions of vein graft atherosclerosis.