Two new ways to fight atherosclerosis

Even if you follow a healthy diet and exercise regularly, the risk of death from a heart attack or stroke is still quite high. However, scientists at Harvard University (Cambridge, Massachusetts) and Baylor University (Waco, Texas) in two independent studies on laboratory mice have received evidence that there are methods to reduce this risk.

Harvard researchers have deciphered the mechanisms underlying the fact that the ROCK1 protein significantly suppresses inflammation of the vascular walls in atherosclerosis, which is the main cause of heart attacks and strokes. The authors found that ROCK1 is necessary for immune cells – macrophages – to clean the walls of blood vessels from fat deposits. A normal side effect of such cleansing is inflammation, but often this process gets out of control, which causes the opposite result - the growth of atherosclerotic plaques and blockage of arteries.

In the absence of the ROCK1 protein, macrophages do not interact with atherosclerotic plaques, which suppresses inflammation and the progression of atherosclerosis. This discovery can form the basis of new treatment methods, for example, ROCK1 inhibitors that prevent the development of inflammatory processes in areas of atherosclerotic deposits and slow down the course of atherosclerosis and, accordingly, reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

While the results of the first work are aimed at preventing the development of inflammation, the second group of researchers studied the body's ability to suppress inflammation after macrophages actively engaged in plaque removal. Scientists have identified lipid mediators used by the body to suppress inflammation that has already begun. Drugs that target these mediators and the mechanisms of their synthesis can be used to suppress inflammation, which is the main cause of the development of symptoms of atherosclerosis. The authors note that aspirin stimulates the production of one of the classes of such mediators.

Articles by Wang et al. "Deficiency of ROCK1 in bone marrow-derived cells protects against atherosclerosis in LDLR-/-mice" and Merched et al. "Atherosclerosis: evidence for impairment of resolution of vascular inflammation governed by specific lipid mediators" published in the FASEB journal.

Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of ScienceDaily 24.06.2008