Role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of unstable coronary artery diseases

Abstract

Biasucci LM, Colizzi C, Rizzello V, Vitrella G, Crea F, Liuzzo G. Role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of unstable coronary artery diseases. Scand J Clin Lab Invest 1999;59 (Suppl230):12-22.Inflammation has been shown to play a pivotal role in ischemic heart disease, in particular unstable angina. The instability that characterizes this syndrome is related to the waxing and waning of ischemic stimuli, especially thrombotic ones. Angiographically and autoptically the severity of the atherosclerotic background in unstable angina does not differ from that in chronic stable angina, but in the former mural thrombi are often found and coronary atherosclerotic plaques are characterized by an inflammatory infiltrate, mostly consisting of activated lymphocytes, macrophages and mast-cells. In addition to these local findings, systemic evidence also suggests the importance of the role of inflammation in unstable angina as platelets, neutrophils and monocytes are activated, and elevated levels of serum markers of inflammation, e.g. C-Reactive Protein, have been consistently found. CRF' has been demonstrated to be a reliable marker of prognosis in coronary heart disease. The consequenses of inflammation are a disruption in the dynamic balance between antithrombotic and prothrombotic activities, an altered extracellular matrix metabolism, hyper-reactivity of cells such as monocytes and smooth muscle cells, all important features of unstable angina. These findings have important prognostic implications, since markers of inflammation are associated to a worse prognosis, and may also have therapeutic implications in the near future LM Biusucci, Istituto di Cardiologia, Universita ' Cattolica, Roma, ITALY Scand J Clin Lab Invest Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by CDL-UC Riverside on 11/02/14 For personal use only. Scand J Clin Lab Invest Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by CDL-UC Riverside on 11/02/14 For personal use only. Scand J Clin Lab Invest Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by CDL-UC Riverside on 11/02/14 For personal use only. Scand J Clin Lab Invest Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by CDL-UC Riverside on 11/02/14 For personal use only.

Changes in the vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and c-reactive protein following administration of aqueous extract of piper sarmentosum on experimental rabbits fed with cholesterol diet

“…Elevated levels of inflammatory markers, especially CRP, are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease [1,8,9]. Serum CRP stimulates endothelial cell expression of (ICAM-1) and (VCAM-1) [10].…”

The Level of hs-CRP in Coronary Artery Ectasia and Its Response to Statin and Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitor Treatment

“…CRP is a sensitive marker of systemic inflammation [7]. The elevation of systemic and local levels of this inflammatory marker has been associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease [8]. Although the CRP in obstructive coronary artery disease (O-CAD) is well known, limited data are available in CAE and there are conflicting results [9, 10].…”

The tripeptide feG ameliorates systemic inflammatory responses to rat intestinal anaphylaxis

“…However, co-inflammatory insults, such as food allergy, that cause activation of cardiac resident mast cells or enhance inflammatory cell infiltration should be avoided in patients with an ongoing inflammation of the heart, i.e. myocarditis, dilated cardiomyopathy, ischemic cardiac injury and unstable angina [35,36,45,46]. The utility of feG in treating allergen-induced inflammations in humans has not been tested, and if such a use was contemplated the peptide would probably be more useful in reducing the inflammation that develops during the later-phases of the allergic reactions as seen herein and other studies [19,33].…”