Division of Immunology & Inflammation, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Campus, Du Cane Road, London W12 0NN, UK.
Clin Sci (Lond). 2013 Sep;125(5):221-35. doi: 10.1042/CS20120576.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in several countries. The underlying process is atherosclerosis, a slowly progressing chronic disorder that can lead to intravascular thrombosis. There is overwhelming evidence for the underlying importance of our immune system in atherosclerosis. Monocytes, which comprise part of the innate immune system, can be recruited to inflamed endothelium and this recruitment has been shown to be proportional to the extent of atherosclerotic disease. Monocytes undergo migration into the vasculature, they differentiate into macrophage phenotypes, which are highly phagocytic and can scavenge modified lipids, leading to foam cell formation and development of the lipid-rich atheroma core. This increased influx leads to a highly inflammatory environment and along with other immune cells can increase the risk in the development of the unstable atherosclerotic plaque phenotype. The present review provides an overview and description of the immunological aspect of innate and adaptive immune cell subsets in atherosclerosis, by defining their interaction with the vascular environment, modified lipids and other cellular exchanges. There is a particular focus on monocytes and macrophages, but shorter descriptions of dendritic cells, lymphocyte populations, neutrophils, mast cells and platelets are also included.
心血管疾病是几个国家的主要死亡原因。其根本过程是动脉粥样硬化，这是一种缓慢进展的慢性疾病，可导致血管内血栓形成。有大量证据表明我们的免疫系统在动脉粥样硬化中起着重要作用。单核细胞是先天免疫系统的一部分，可被招募到发炎的内皮细胞中，这种招募与动脉粥样硬化疾病的严重程度成正比。单核细胞进入血管迁移，分化为巨噬细胞表型，具有很强的吞噬能力，可以吞噬修饰后的脂质，导致泡沫细胞形成和富含脂质的动脉粥样硬化核心的发展。这种增加的流入导致高度炎症的环境，与其他免疫细胞一起，会增加不稳定的动脉粥样硬化斑块表型的发展风险。本综述通过定义其与血管环境、修饰脂质和其他细胞交换的相互作用，提供了动脉粥样硬化中先天和适应性免疫细胞亚群的免疫学方面的概述和描述。特别关注单核细胞和巨噬细胞，但也包括树突状细胞、淋巴细胞群体、中性粒细胞、肥大细胞和血小板的简短描述。
