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Query: UMLS:C0004153 (atherosclerosis)
 77,401 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Vascular disorders comprise a wide range of diverse disease entities. Correspondingly, vessels, and even more so the endothelial which line them, show a remarkable extent of heterogeneous differentiation, e.g. between the blood vascular and lymphatic systems, along the length of the vascular trees, and in the microvascular beds of various organs. The most important morphologic criterion to discriminate between endothelia is continuity (continuous endothelial cell layer and well-formed basement membrane) versus discontinuity (intra- or intercellular gaps and/or reduced or missing basement membrane). Most blood vascular endothelia are of the continuous type, while most sinusoidal and lymphatic endothelia are discontinuous by these criteria. Antigen expression corroborates these morphologic data in that CD31, CD34, and 1F10 antigen are exclusively expressed in continuous endothelia, while MS-1 antigen is preferentially expressed in non-continuous sinusoidal endothelia. In contrast, no specific marker has as yet been described for lymphatic endothelia. Endothelial heterogeneity substantially contributes to the pathogenesis of vascular disorders. For example, in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome the same infectious agent may cause either bacillary angiomatosis (a lobular capillary proliferation) or peliosis (sinusoidal dilatation, endothelial denudation, and development of blood-filled cysts) depending on whether the affected organs have predominantly continuous endothelia or noncontinuous sinusoidal endothelia. Moreover, in Kaposi's sarcoma, it is still an open question of whether the lesion is derived from blood vascular or lymphatic endothelia (Kaposi's sarcoma cells in situ do not express the von Willebrand factor+, PAL-E+, 1F10+ phenotype of mature, resting blood vascular endothelia). It is also unresolved how endothelia of either type may be differentially induced to dedifferentiate and how they are recruited into the lesion. Clearly, knowledge about endothelial heterogeneity is still too incomplete to identify the actual mechanisms and molecules that govern the pathogenesis of vascular disorders (including still others than those mentioned here such as atherosclerosis, diabetic angiopathy, and rheumatoid arthritis) affecting distinct endothelia. Further efforts in antigenic phenotyping and in cell and molecular biology of heterogeneously differentiated endothelia should be made to improve this state of affairs.
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PMID:Endothelial heterogeneity and the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome: a paradigm for the pathogenesis of vascular disorders. 160 Mar 45

In order to investigate processes, such as atherosclerosis and inflammation in vitro, it is necessary to obtain viable and pure endothelial cell cultures from human hearts. To this end, endothelial cells were isolated and cultured from the micro- and macrovasculature of human hearts obtained during heart transplantation. Isolation of capillaries after enzymatic digestion of heart muscle provided a source of microvascular endothelial cells. Contaminating non-endothelial cells were removed by a new technique: paramagnetic beads linked to the lectin ulex europaeus I (UEA-I) were used to select endothelial cells. The resulting cultures contained less than 2% of non-endothelial cells, as judged from immunological staining and fluorescence-activated cell sorting. Both types of endothelial cell displayed typical endothelial properties. They were all positive for factor VIII-related antigen and expressed the endothelial-specific adhesion molecules, CD31 and E-selectin (ELAM-1), after stimulation with cytokines. In addition, they could be labelled with Dil-Ac-LDL, contained angiotensin converting enzyme activity and secreted tissue plasminogen activator, thus demonstrating that typical endothelial functions were preserved in culture.
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PMID:Cultivation and characterization of micro- and macrovascular endothelial cells from the human heart. 829 83

The endothelial L-arginine:nitric oxide (NO) system is fundamental to vascular function. It is becoming evident that this system is compromised in aorto-coronary vein grafts, although it is not clear how it is affected. It was postulated that the development of intimal lesions in vein grafts may be associated with reduced expression or loss of endothelial NO synthase (eNOS). The immunocytochemical localization and quantitative expression of eNOS were therefore investigated in normal human saphenous veins (n = 6) and explanted vein grafts (n = 6). The vein grafts demonstrated marked morphological changes evident as fibro-intimal hyperplasia (FIH) and focal sites of atherosclerosis, often occurring along the same length of graft. Staining for eNOS was abundantly evident in the endothelium of normal veins but revealed a differential reduction in staining intensity in vein grafts. Staining intensity measurements revealed a significant reduction (P < 0.001) in the amount of eNOS present in areas of atherosclerosis as compared with normal veins and areas of vein graft with FIH changes alone. This reduction in the relative quantity of antigen was specific to eNOS, since the endothelial markers von Willebrand factor (vWf) and CD31 showed no such variations. These data support the view that vascular activity of NO is impaired in atherosclerosis and indicate that reduced expression of eNOS, and therefore by inference lower NO production, may make an important contribution to this phenomenon.
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PMID:Explanted vein grafts with an intact endothelium demonstrate reduced focal expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase specific to atherosclerotic sites. 875 13

Outgrowth of vascular wall cells from rat aortic tissue explant was studied. In addition to fresh rat serum (3%), the complete culture medium contained either low density lipoprotein (LDL) separated from rat plasma (n-LDL, 100 microg/ml) or rat LDL modified either by activated rat polymorphonuclear leucocytes (pmn-LDL) or by exposure to UV light (uv-LDL). Compared to n-LDL, pmn-LDL significantly increased the start of cell outgrowth and the further rate of growth. High concentration of uv-LDL (500 microg/ml) was cytotoxic. Cells which grew out from aortic tissue in the presence of n-LDL were characterised as endothelial cells by staining with lectin Ulex europaeus, with monoclonal antibody to Factor VIII or with monoclonal antibody to endothelial cells (CD31). However, cells which grew out in the presence either of pmn-LDL or uv-LDL did not stain with any of these endothelial cell markers, instead they showed intense staining with monoclonal anti-alpha-smooth muscle actin, indicating that they were smooth muscle cells. Growth rate of subcultured rat aortic smooth muscles cells was increased (P < 0.05) by the presence of uv-LDL (100 microg/ml). It is concluded that LDL modified either by activated leucocytes or by UV light prevents the normal outgrowth of endothelial cells from aortic explant and at the same time greatly promotes outgrowth of smooth muscle cells. Stimulation of both outgrowth of smooth muscle cells from vascular tissue and their proliferation by modified (oxidised) LDL may have important pathological significance in atherogenesis and restenosis.
Atherosclerosis 1997 Feb 28
PMID:Modified low density lipoprotein is a potent stimulus for smooth muscle cell outgrowth from rat aortic explant in vitro. 906 10

The effect of aminoguanidine (AG) on the expression of adhesion molecules on nonactivated human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) was investigated in vitro. Nonactivated HUVEC cultivated on long-term glycated fibronectin (FN) as compared to native FN showed a significant upregulation of intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1), vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1) and CD31 which could be further promoted by long-term glycated bovine serum albumin. AG, at a concentration of 0.01 mol/l, caused an upregulation of ICAM-1 of 48 +/- 17.4% in HUVEC cultivated on gelatin. In contrast, VCAM-1 and E-selectin remained unaffected. At this concentration, formation of advanced glycation end products (AGE) was inhibited by 57%, as determined immunologically, and by 50%, as verified by AGE-specific fluorescence. A hypothesis concerning the upregulation of ICAM-1 by AG as compared to VCAM-1 is proposed relating to its relative redox insensitivity. Our results demonstrate that the beneficial effect of AG in reducing the risk of accelerated development of atherosclerosis in diabetic patients by inhibiting formation of AGE on matrix proteins such as FN might be hampered by its tendency to upregulate ICAM-1 on endothelial cells.
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PMID:Effects of aminoguanidine on adhesion molecule expression of human endothelial cells. 934 1

The adherence of blood monocytes to the endothelium, followed by transmigration beneath the endothelium, are initiating events in the formation of foam cells, promoting atherogenesis. We showed that adhesion molecules on leukocytes were up- or down-regulated in atherosclerosis, when binding of monoclonal antibodies was measured by indirect immunofluorescence with flow cytometry. Expression of PE-CAM-1 (CD31) on monocytes and LFA-1 (CD11a) on lymphocytes was increased with age. Expression of PECAM-1 in monocytes was also up-regulated in patients with coronary artery disease. Being unchanged on aging, expression of HAR (CD44) on polymorphonuclear leukocytes and monocytes was increased in patients with coronary artery disease. On the other hand, expression of L-selectin (CD62L) on polymorphonuclear leukocytes, and LFA-1, CR3 (CD11b) and VLA-4 (CD49d) on monocytes was decreased. These findings may show the mechanism of increased chemotaxis of monocytes beneath the endothelium during the incipient stage of atherosclerosis.
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PMID:[Adhesion of leukocytes to endothelial cells in atherosclerosis]. 986 1

In earlier studies, our group has established a new "immunological" hypothesis for atherogenesis supported by experimental and clinical studies showing that inflammatory immunological reactions against heat shock protein 60 initiate the development of atherosclerosis. In the present study, we describe the discovery of a so-far-unknown network of dendritic cells in the innermost layer of arteries, the intima, but not veins of healthy humans and rabbits. The number of these dendritic cells is comparable to that of Langerhans cells in the skin, and dendritic cells show a similar phenotype (CD1a(+) S-100(+) lag(+) CD31(-) CD83(-) CD86(-) and no staining for von Willebrand factor or smooth muscle cell myosin). These vascular-associated dendritic cells accumulate most densely in those arterial regions that are subjected to major hemodynamic stress by turbulent flow conditions and are known to be predisposed for the later development of atherosclerosis. These results open new perspectives for the activation of the immune system within the arterial wall.
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PMID:Network of vascular-associated dendritic cells in intima of healthy young individuals. 1130 64

Vascular endothelium is an important site for a wide array of immunological processes such as inflammation, atherosclerosis and allograft rejection. Culture methods of mouse vascular endothelium would provide an important in vitro correlate to immunological murine in vivo models. We describe a simple method to culture mouse vascular endothelium from thoracic aorta. Our cultured cells express typical phenotypic (CD105, CD31, CD106), morphological and ultrastructural (intercellular junctions, Weibel-Palade bodies) markers of vascular endothelium. They also possess functional receptors for uptake and processing of acetylated low-density lipoproteins. The mouse vascular endothelium within our system expresses high levels of MHC class I and MHC class II after activation with IFN-gamma. In addition, these cells express the accessory molecules CD80 and CD54, while they lack constitutive expression of CD86 and CD40, providing them the means to function as antigen presenting cells. Alloreactive CD4(+) and CD8(+) T lymphocytes demonstrate evidence of DNA synthesis after co-culture with activated vascular endothelium indicating their commitment to proliferation. In conclusion, we describe a simple culture system to isolate and grow mouse vascular endothelium, which provides a powerful tool to study biological interactions in vitro.
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PMID:A simple method for culturing mouse vascular endothelium. 1140 51

Coronary atherosclerosis with occlusive thrombosis is the major cause of acute myocardial infarction. Although plaque rupture is usually hypothesized to be the predisposing event in coronary thrombosis, the possibility cannot be excluded that local changes in the anticoagulant properties of the endothelium overlying the plaque contribute to this process. It is evident that thrombomodulin and the endothelial cell protein C receptor are critical players in the control of the thrombogenic process. This study examined whether thrombomodulin and the endothelial cell protein C receptor are down-regulated on endothelial cells overlying the atherosclerotic plaque in coronary arteries and thus could potentially favor local thrombus formation. Sections of archival left and right coronary arteries (n = 18 each) with severe atherosclerosis from the native heart of six patients who underwent heart transplantation were immunostained for CD31, CD34, endothelial cell protein C receptor, and thrombomodulin using a streptavidin-biotin-peroxidase method. Controls included left and right coronary arteries from autopsy cases with no atherosclerosis (n = 6), and also from cases with mild atherosclerosis (n = 5). The apparent density of all of these proteins was much higher in control than in atherosclerotic arteries. Our findings support the hypothesis that both endothelial cell protein C receptor and thrombomodulin are down-regulated in coronary arteries with atherosclerosis. These changes would be expected to result in reduced inhibition of thrombogenic and anti-inflammatory activity on the endothelium overlying atherosclerotic regions and thus could contribute to coronary thrombosis.
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PMID:Down-regulation of endothelial expression of endothelial cell protein C receptor and thrombomodulin in coronary atherosclerosis. 1154 69

Interaction between leukocyte and endothelial cells (ECs) is essential for vascular homeostasis and competent immune-inflammatory responses in vivo. Platelet-derived microparticles (PMPs) are generated by high shear stress and may appear in diseased small arteries and arterioles in various clinical settings. In this study, we used flow cytometry and confocal laser scanning microscopy to investigate the effects of high-shear-induced platelet and microparticle activation in adhesion molecules of THP-1 and ECs. We also measured the production of some cytokines and studied cytokine mRNA from THP-1 and ECs after PMP stimulation. PMP stimulation of THP-1 cells increased CD11b, CD32, and CD33 but not CD29, CD31, and CD36. PMP stimulation of ECs increased CD54 and CD63 but not CD9, CD29, and CD31. PMPs induced interleukin-8 (IL-8), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta), and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) production by THP-1. PMPs also induced IL-8, IL-1 beta, and interleukin-6 (IL-6) production by ECs. Production was time-dependent. With RT-PCR, some cytokine mRNAs were detected in THP-1 and ECs after PMP stimulation. In relation to adhesiveness after PMP stimulation, we could clearly observe a shift in distribution not only of CD11b in THP-1 cells but also of CD54 in ECs. In addition, anti-P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 antibody reduced the expression of CD11b, CD32, and CD33 in THP-1 after PMP stimulation. These results suggest that high-shear-induced microparticles may contribute to the development of atherosclerosis and participate in vascular damage in inflammatory disorders.
Atherosclerosis 2001 Oct
PMID:High-shear-stress-induced activation of platelets and microparticles enhances expression of cell adhesion molecules in THP-1 and endothelial cells. 1158 5


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