Impact of age-dependent adventitia inflammation on structural alteration of abdominal aorta in hyperlipidemic mice.

The adventitia is suggested to contribute to vascular remodeling; however, the site-selective inflammatory responses in association with the development of atherosclerosis remain to be elucidated.Wild-type or apolipoprotein E knockout male C57BL/6J background mice were fed standard chow for 16, 32, and 52 weeks, and the morphology of the aortic arch, descending aorta, and abdominal aorta was compared. Atheromatous plaque formation progressed with age, particularly in the aortic arch and abdominal aorta but not in the descending aorta. In addition, we found that the numbers of macrophages, T-lymphocytes, and microvessels, assessed by anti-F4/80, CD3, and CD31 antibodies, were higher in the adventitia of the abdominal aorta at 52 weeks. These numbers were positively correlated with plaque formation, but negatively correlated with elastin content, resulting in the enlargement of the total vessel area. In aortic tissues, interleukin-6 levels increased in the atheromatous plaque with age, whereas the level of regulated on activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) increased with age, and compared with other sites, it was particularly distributed in inflammatory cells in the adventitia of the abdominal aorta.This study suggests that adventitial inflammation contributes to the age-dependent structural alterations, and that the activation/inactivation of cytokines/chemokines is involved in the process

Combined use of brain natriuretic peptide and C-reactive protein for predicting cardiovascular risk in outpatients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Toshihiro Tsuruda1, Johji Kato2, Takahiro Sumi1, Kazuya Mishima1, Hiroyuki Masuyama1, Hiroyuki Nakao3, Takuroh Imamura1, Tanenao Eto1, Kazuo Kitamura11Department of Internal Medicine, Circulatory and Body Fluid Regulation, Faculty of Medicine, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki, Japan; 2Frontier Research Center, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki, Japan; 3Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki, Japan Abstract: Appropriate tools are necessary for predicting cardiovascular events in patients with diabetes mellitus because of their high incidence. In this study, we assessed whether a combination of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and C-reactive protein (CRP) measurement were useful prognosticators in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. One hundred and nine patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, aged 52 to 93 years, were examined at outpatient clinics for blood, urinary samples, and echocardiography. They were then followed prospectively. During the average follow-up period of 30 months (range, 3 to 37), 15 patients (14%) had cardiovascular events: This was the first event in 5 patients and a recurrence in 10. Cox regression analysis showed that the past event (hazard ratio [HR] 4.819 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.299–17.881]; p = 0.019) and plasma BNP level (HR 1.007 [95% CI: 1.002–1.012]; p = 0.010] were independently significant factors for the cardiovascular events during the follow-up period. Patients with plasma BNP ≥53 pg/mL and CRP ≥0.95 mg/dL demonstrated the highest incidence in cardiovascular event, compared to those categorized into either or both low levels of BNP and CRP. This study suggests that combination of plasma BNP and CRP measurement provides the additive prognostic information of cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.Keywords: diabetes mellitus; natriuretic peptide; inflammation; mortality and morbidit

Impact of age on the region-specific concentrations of cytokine/chemokine in aortic tissue.

<p>Tissue concentrations of IL-6 (<b>A</b>), IL-10 (<b>B</b>), and RANTES (<b>C</b>) in the aortic arch (a), descending aorta (b), and abdominal aorta (c) of 16-, 32-, and 52-week-old apo E^−/− mice (red) and wild-type mice (yellow). The graphs present mean values of 3–4 samples. *p<0.05 vs. the respective region in 52-week-old wild-type mice; ^†p<0.05 vs. aortic arch, and <b>^#</b>p<0.05 vs. the descending aorta in apo E^−/− mice at 52 weeks.</p