Vulnerable plaques, which are high-risk features of atherosclerosis, constitute critical elements in the disease's progression due to their formation and rupture. Macrophages and macrophage-derived foam cells are pivotal in inducing vulnerability within atherosclerotic plaques. Thus, understanding macrophage contributions to vulnerable plaques is essential for advancing the comprehension of atherosclerosis and devising novel therapeutic and diagnostic strategies. This review provides an overview of the pathological characteristics of vulnerable plaques, emphasizes macrophages' critical role, and discusses advanced strategies for their diagnosis and treatment. It aims to present a comprehensive macrophage-centered perspective for addressing vulnerable plaques in atherosclerosis.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.7150/thno.105256 | DOI Listing |
Theranostics
January 2025
Institute of Biomedical Engineering, West China School of Basic Medical Sciences & Forensic Medicine, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
Vulnerable plaques, which are high-risk features of atherosclerosis, constitute critical elements in the disease's progression due to their formation and rupture. Macrophages and macrophage-derived foam cells are pivotal in inducing vulnerability within atherosclerotic plaques. Thus, understanding macrophage contributions to vulnerable plaques is essential for advancing the comprehension of atherosclerosis and devising novel therapeutic and diagnostic strategies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAtherosclerosis
December 2024
Department of Cardiology, Barts Heart Centre, Barts Health NHS Trust, London, UK; Centre for Cardiovascular Medicine and Devices, William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK. Electronic address:
Background And Aims: Coronary angiography-derived wall shear stress (WSS) may enable identification of vulnerable plaques and patients. A new recently introduced software allows seamless three-dimensional quantitative coronary angiography (3D-QCA) reconstruction and WSS computation within a single user-friendly platform carrying promise for clinical applications. This study examines for the first time the efficacy of this software in detecting vulnerable lesions in patients with intermediate non-flow limiting stenoses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Cardiovasc Transl Res
January 2025
Department of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Changzheng Hospital, Affiliated to the Naval Medical University, Shanghai, 200003, China.
CHI3L1 is strongly associated with atherosclerosis, but its role in macrophages remains unknown. In this study, we observed a significant up-regulation of CHI3L1 in both carotid plaques and serum of symptomatic patients, and demonstrated that CHI3L1 impairs the efferocytosis of macrophages by down-regulating crucial efferocytic mediator MFGE8 through inhibiting ATF2, which binds directly to the enhancer of MFGE8. In human plaques, we observed a negative correlation between CHI3L1 expression and both ATF2 and MFGE8 levels, further proved their involvement in plaque destabilization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMed J Malaysia
January 2025
Universiti Sains Malaysia, School of Medical Sciences, Department of Radiology, Health Campus, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia.
Introduction: Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS), an in vivo imaging tool for evaluating intraplaque neovascularisation (IPN), is an increasingly researched marker of susceptible atherosclerotic plaque. This study aims to assess the feasibility of quantifying carotid IPN using CEUS and to identify and characterise the neovascularisation in carotid plaques. The hospital's ethical committee approved the study, and the informed individual consent form of CEUS was obtained from all patients before the examination.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCurr Opin Psychiatry
December 2024
Department of Neuroscience, Carleton University.
Purpose Of Review: Using advanced bibliometric analysis, we systematically mapped the most current literature on urban air pollution and neurodevelopmental conditions to identify key patterns and associations. Here, we review the findings from the broader literature by discussing a distilled, validated subset of 44 representative studies.
Recent Findings: Literature highlights a complex relationship between environmental toxins, neurodevelopmental disorders in children, and neurobehavioral pathways involving oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, and protein aggregation.
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