Cysteamine against atherosclerosis

The antioxidant reduced the size of atherosclerotic plaques in the aorta of mice by a third

Anastasia Kuznetsova-Fantoni, N+1

British and Dutch researchers have found that the antioxidant cysteamine reduces atherosclerotic plaques.

The study was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association (Ahmad et al., Cysteamine Decreases Low‐Density Lipoprotein Oxidation, Causes Regression of Atherosclerosis, and Improves Liver and Muscle Function in Low‐Density Lipoprotein Receptor–Deficient Mice).

Atherosclerosis of blood vessels provokes the appearance of life-threatening conditions, such as heart attacks and strokes. With atherosclerosis, cholesterol and some lipoproteins are deposited in the artery wall, and this is accompanied by chronic inflammation. Lipids, in particular low–density lipoproteins, in the atherosclerotic plaque absorb immune cells - macrophages. These macrophages then die, and a necrotic nucleus is formed from them, covered with collagen, which isolates the plaque from the bloodstream. These plaques are very unstable and often come off, causing thrombosis of the vessel.

Lipids that are captured by macrophages are oxidized in lysosomes. This provokes lysosome dysfunction, cellular aging and the death of these immune cells.

In previous experiments with human macrophages, British and Dutch cardiologists found that the antioxidant cysteamine suppresses the oxidation of low-density lipoproteins. In a new paper, scientists led by David S. Leake from The University of Reading decided to test whether cysteamine would help ease the course of atherosclerosis in mice. They took a genetic line of mice for the experiment, which develops atherosclerosis quickly and early. The animals were previously fed food containing a large amount of fat for eight weeks in order to cause atherosclerosis in them. Then one group of mice was euthanized to check whether they really developed atherosclerotic vascular lesion, and after making sure of this, they continued the experiment. The remaining mice were divided into two groups of 20 animals, one of them was added to the food with cysteamine, and the other was not.

The experiment lasted eight weeks, and then the mice were euthanized and looked at the size of atherosclerotic plaques in the aorta. It turned out that in the group that was given cysteamine, the size of atherosclerotic plaques in the aortic root was 32 percent smaller than in the control group, and in the thoracic and abdominal aorta – 56 percent smaller.

Cysteamine has already been approved for use in humans – it treats a rare genetic disease with the accumulation of cystine in cells. In the future, researchers plan to study in which dosage form cysteine is most effective. They hope to start clinical trials on patients with atherosclerosis in the coming years.

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