Everolimus depletes plaque macrophages, abolishes intraplaque neovascularization and improves survival in mice with advanced atherosclerosis.

Background And Aims: Inhibition of the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a promising approach to halt atherogenesis in different animal models. This study evaluated whether the mTOR inhibitor everolimus can stabilize pre-existing plaques, prevent cardiovascular complications and improve survival in a mouse model of advanced atherosclerosis.

Methods: ApoEFbn1 mice (n = 24) were fed a Western diet (WD) for 12 weeks.

Pharmacological strategies to inhibit intra-plaque angiogenesis in atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerosis is a complex multifactorial disease that affects large and medium-sized arteries. Rupture of atherosclerotic plaques and subsequent acute cardiovascular complications remain a leading cause of death and morbidity in the Western world. There is a considerable difference in safety profile between a stable and a vulnerable, rupture-prone lesion.

Cytoprotective effects of transgenic neuroglobin overexpression in an acute and chronic mouse model of ischemic heart disease.

Neuroglobin (NGB) is an oxygen-binding protein that is mainly expressed in nervous tissues where it is considered to be neuroprotective during ischemic brain injury. Interestingly, transgenic mice overexpressing NGB reveal cytoprotective effects on tissues lacking endogenous NGB, which might indicate a therapeutic role for NGB in a broad range of ischemic conditions. In the present study, we investigated the effect of NGB overexpression on survival as well as on the size and occurrence of myocardial infarctions (MI) in a mouse model of acute MI (AMI) and a model of advanced atherosclerosis (ApoE Fbn1 mice), in which coronary plaques and MI develop in mice being fed a Western-type diet.

Axitinib attenuates intraplaque angiogenesis, haemorrhages and plaque destabilization in mice.

Aim: An increased density of intraplaque (IP) microvessels in ruptured versus nonruptured human plaques suggests that IP neovascularization has a major causative effect on plaque development and instability. Possibly, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) or other angiogenic factors mediate IP microvessel growth and plaque destabilization. Because apolipoprotein deficient mice with a heterozygous mutation (C1039G+/-) in the fibrillin-1 gene (ApoEFbn1) manifest substantial IP neovascularization, they represent a unique tool to further investigate angiogenesis and its role in atherosclerosis.

Intraplaque neovascularization as a novel therapeutic target in advanced atherosclerosis.

Introduction: Atherosclerosis is a lipid-driven inflammatory process with a tremendously high mortality due to acute cardiac events. There is an emerging need for new therapies to stabilize atherosclerotic lesions. Growing evidence suggests that intraplaque (IP) neovascularisation and IP hemorrhages are important contributors to plaque instability.

Development of atherosclerotic plaques in a mouse model of pseudoxanthoma elasticum.

Objective: Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) is an autosomal recessive disorder, characterized by extensive mineralization of connective tissues and fragmentation of elastin fibres. PXE patients may sporadically suffer from severe cardiovascular complications caused by accelerated atherosclerosis. Consistent with this finding, recent evidence suggests that elastin fragmentation in arteries of atherosclerotic mice leads to unstable plaques and human-like complications such as myocardial infarction, stroke and sudden death.