G K Hansson

..These data emphasize the importance of inflammation and immune responses in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis...

..This review provides a brief overview of cellular immunology and an analysis of its potential role in atherogenesis...

..This review provides an overview of our current understanding of the role of immune mechanisms in atherosclerosis...

..Inhibition of T cell activation may therefore represent a strategy for antiatherosclerotic therapy...

..The notion that immunity plays an important role in the development of atherosclerosis has focused attention on a number of potential novel targets for intervention based on modulation of such immune responses...

..These factors are likely to be important in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis...

..Further studies will be necessary to clarify the explanation for the seroepidemiological association between CP and coronary heart disease in humans...

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..In conclusion, IL-15 is up-regulated in both human and animal atherosclerotic lesions and may contribute to the recruitment of T cells and their activation during atherogenesis...

..The strongly skewed pattern of the CDR3 region in the TCR is indicative of oligoclonal expansions of T cells and suggests the occurrence of antigen-driven T-cell proliferation in atherosclerosis...

..Study results suggest that expression of curli fibers by E. coli activates the NO/NOS2 arm of the innate immune system, which leads to a significant fall in blood pressure...

..This results in differential capability to express NF-kappaB-dependent genes such as iNOS and ICAM-1, which could have implications for host defense and the pathogenesis of vascular diseases...

..Since the two subsets of T cells counteract each other, this switch may have important consequences for the inflammatory/immune process in atherosclerosis...

..These observations show that scavenger receptors participate in immune recognition of oxidized protein antigens; this system may be important for recognition of damaged macromolecules but could also play a role in autoimmunity...

..Therefore, immunomodulation may be an effective way to prevent and/or treat atherosclerosis...

..Activation of T cells and macrophages has been associated with unstable angina (UA), but whether this reflects specific immune responses remains unclear...

..Inflammatory genes may be unevenly expressed in different heart chambers...

..Nuclear receptors ligated by oxidized lipid derivatives modulate T-cell responses, and it is speculated that this mechanism may cause the switch to Th2 in severe hypercholesterolaemia...

..Such mechanisms may be decreased sensitivity to vasoconstrictors, or increased opening of KCa channels by NO via a cyclic GMP-dependent mechanism...

..In conclusion, H2O2 induces TNFalpha mRNA in HUVECs and PBMC. In HUVECs an increase of intracellular TNFalpha protein was also detected, indicating that endothelial cells can produce small amounts of TNFalpha...

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..They suggest that immune activation is part of the disease process, and we speculate that a direct link may exist between cholesterol accumulation and T cell activation, possibly by autoimmune responses to modified lipoproteins...

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..This study shows that TNFSF4 is expressed on antigen-presenting cells in human carotid atherosclerotic lesions but provides no evidence for an association of TNFSF4 gene variation with the risk for ischemic stroke...

..Thus, stress elicits myocardial infarction through endothelin receptor signaling in coronary atherosclerosis caused by hypercholesterolemia...

..These results indicate that retinoids modulate NO production in VSMC via RARalpha, which inhibits the transcription of the NOS2 gene...

..Such differential effects may have implications for studies of PDTC as an anti-atherosclerotic or immunomodulatory drug...

..Thus, our data demonstrate that HA or CSA can effectively and rapidly promote the differentiation of immature DC, suggesting that HA and CSA may possess a potential capacity in regulating immune responses...

..Interference with pathways that control the susceptibility to programmed cell death may be helpful in the treatment of diseases where dysregulation of apoptosis is involved, eg, atherosclerosis and restenosis...

..Hopefully we will be able to solve many of these issues in the near future and use this approach to control atherosclerotic disease in man...

..For this purpose, we investigated the relationship between clinical parameters of plaque instability and expression of genes previously shown to be associated with either plaque instability or healing processes in the vessel wall...

..Thus, expression of iNOS in lesions may represent a protective mechanism that compensates for the loss of endothelium...

..To find new inflammatory genes, we explored the vascular transcriptional response to an activator of innate immunity bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPSs)...

..This review provides an overview of the research field of cellular immunity in atherosclerosis. It emphasises the events and findings involving antigen specific T cells, in particular low-density lipoprotein-specific T cells...

..Mitochondrial activity may also modulate smooth muscle tone by biotransformation of vasoactive mediators. Here, we study the role of mitochondrial DNA gene expression for vascular function in vivo...

..Inflammatory markers are already used to monitor the disease process and anti-inflammatory therapy may be useful to control disease activity...

..A possible role of NFkappaB in the development of atherosclerosis and unstable coronary syndromes is discussed. Nuclear factor kappa-B may be a new therapeutic target for myocardial protection...