1989 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Characterization of foam cells in atherosclerotic lesions and suppression of foam cell formation
| Project/Area Number |
63480225
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (B)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Research Field |
Circulatory organs internal medicine
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| Research Institution | Nagoya University School of Medicine |
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Principal Investigator |
KUZUYA Fumio Nagoya University School of Medicine, Professor, 医学部, 教授 (80023761)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
NAITO Michitaka Nagoya University School of Medicine, Instructor, 医学部, 助手 (10198012)
ASAI Kanichi Nagoya University School of Medicine, Assistant Professor, 医学部, 講師 (70151008)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1988 – 1989
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| Keywords | Atherosclerosis / Monocyte / macrophage / Smooth muscle cell / Foam cell / Denatured lipoprotein / High density lipoprotein / Low density lipoprotein / Superoxide |
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| Research Abstract |
The accumulation of lipid in arterial cells is one of the histopathological features of atherosclerosis. The identification and origin of lipid-laden cells, so-called foam cells, in atherosclerotic lesions have been a subject of dispute. They have been thought to arise either from smooth muscle cells, macrophages, or from both. And we devised a method to separate monocute/ macrophage-derived foam cells from smooth muscle cells.
Monocute/ macrophages are easily distinguished from smooth muscle cells by non-specific esterase staining.
In this study we characterized macrophage-derived foam cells and examined their reversibility. The activity of lysozyme and superoxide production by macrrophage-derived foam cells were much lower than those of monocutes, however, the activity of beta - glucuronidase of the foam cells was similar to that of monocytes.
In the presence of enough cholesterol acceptor such as high density lipoprotein (HDL), the intracellular cholesterol content of the foam cells gradually decreased, but not completely reversible.
When mouse peritoneal macrophages were lipid-laden in vitro, their cholesterol content decreased about 60% in the presence of HDL, however, in the case of rabbit peritoneal macrophages, only 30%, suggesting the importance of species difference.
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