ATHEROSCLEROSIS
Volume 207 | Issue 1 | November 2009
By Steve Humphries, Editor–in-Chief

Highlighted Articles

Three papers published in this issue of Atherosclerosis examine markers associated with carotid atherosclerosis. In a Letter to the Editor Katakami et al report that the presence of the “oxidative stress associated alleles” of 4 genes have a cumulative effect on carotid atherosclerosis severity in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes. Burillo et al use a proteomic approach in macrophages to demonstrate an association between the rs6886 polymorphism in the CAPG gene and carotid IMT, suggesting that this polymorphism could modulate macrophages’ response to oxidized LDL in subjects with hypercholesterolemia. Businaro et al demonstrate that HSP90 is over expressed in plaques and serum from patients with atherosclerosis and that HSP90 induces an immune response, together these findings suggest that HSP90 is a possible target autoantigen in the pathogenesis of carotid atherosclerosis.

Review articles
In their review Shiomi & Ito pay tribute to Dr Yoshio Watanabe by examining the enormous contribution that the WHHL rabbit has made to atherosclerosis research and therapeutics.
The role CX3CR1 in CAD is reviewed by Apostolakis et al, who go on to report meta-analysis of data drawn from 7 case-control studies, which reveals genotype–phenotype interactions indicative of strong associations between FKN-induced pathways and CAD. “Where Are We with Probucol: A New Life for an Old Drug?” by Yamashita & Matsuzawa examines current thinking on the pharmacology, clinical benefits and mechanism of actions of Probucol.

The new front cover image is taken from the paper by Stanley et al who investigate the basis of the effect that Schistosoma mansoni worms and eggs have on circulating cholesterol and liver lipids in ApoE knockout mice.

Papers in this issue include:

Vascular Biology, Hemostasis & Oxidative Stress

• Proteomic study of macrophages exposed to oxLDL identifies a CAPG polymorphism associated with carotid atherosclerosis.
• Heat-Shock Protein 90: a novel autoantigen in human carotid atherosclerosis.

Metabolism: Lipids, Lipoproteins, Carbohydrates, Homocysteine & Cholesterol

• Hypersusceptibility of neutrophil granulocytes towards lethal action of free fatty acids contained in enzyme-modified atherogenic LDL.
• Effects of Schistosoma mansoni worms and eggs on circulating cholesterol and liver lipids in mice.

Imaging and Measurement of Vessel Health

• Multimodality imaging of atherosclerotic plaque activity and composition using FDG-PET/CT and MRI in carotid and femoral arteries.

Genetics

• Identification of CELSR1 as a susceptibility gene for ischemic stroke in Japanese individuals by GWAS.
• Prevalence and clinical features of heterozygous carriers of ARH in Sardinia.

Intervention

• Lifestyle intervention in obese children is associated with a decrease in metabolic syndrome prevalence.
• Relationship between metabolic syndrome and the incidence of stroke after complete coronary revascularization over a 10-year follow-up period.

Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Nutrition

• Elevated one-hour post-load plasma glucose levels identifies subjects with normal glucose tolerance but early carotid atherosclerosis.
• ACAT2 and human hepatic cholesterol metabolism: identification of important gender-related differences in normolipidemic, non-obese Chinese patients.