Adventitial tertiary lymphoid organ classification in human atherosclerosis.

Background: Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the arterial wall. Adjacent to lamina intima lesion progression, a cellular compound develops in the lamina adventitia, defined as tertiary lymphoid organs (TLO) in mice. But in human system, it remains unknown whether these adventitial cellular accumulations represent these highly organized immunological structures.

The Two Faces of Interleukin-17A in Atherosclerosis.

A complex network of different cytokines and chemokines modulates atherosclerosis, a chronic inflammatory disease. Interleukin-17A (IL-17A) is expressed by different leukocyte subsets such as CD4+IL-17+ T cells (Th17), γδ T cells, natural killer cells, natural killer T cells, and neutrophils. IL-17A plays an important role in host defense and is involved in the pathology of different autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.

CCL19 and CCL21 modulate the inflammatory milieu in atherosclerotic lesions.

Despite advances in the pharmacologic and interventional treatment of coronary artery disease, atherosclerosis remains the leading cause of death worldwide. Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease, and elevated expression of CCL19 and CCL21 has been observed in ruptured lesions of coronary arteries of patients with myocardial infarction and carotid plaques of patients with ischemic symptoms, as well as in plasma of coronary artery disease patients. However, the exact role of CCL19 and CCL21 in atherosclerosis remains unknown.