Medbury Heather J, Williams Helen, Fletcher John P
Vascular Biology Research Centre, Department of Surgery, University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW Australia.
Clin Transl Med. 2014 Nov 21;3(1):63. doi: 10.1186/s40169-014-0042-1. eCollection 2014 Dec.
The emerging understanding of macrophage subsets and their functions in the atherosclerotic plaque has led to the consensus that M1 macrophages are pro-atherogenic while M2 macrophages may promote plaque stability, primarily though their tissue repair and anti-inflammatory properties. As such, modulating macrophage function to promote plaque stability is an exciting therapeutic prospect. This review will outline the involvement of the different macrophage subsets throughout atherosclerosis progression and in models of regression. It is evident that much of our understanding of macrophage function comes from in vitro or small animal models and, while such knowledge is valuable, we have much to learn about the roles of the macrophage subsets in the clinical setting in order to identify the key pathways to target to possibly promote plaque stability.
对巨噬细胞亚群及其在动脉粥样硬化斑块中的功能的新认识已达成共识，即M1巨噬细胞具有促动脉粥样硬化作用，而M2巨噬细胞可能主要通过其组织修复和抗炎特性促进斑块稳定性。因此，调节巨噬细胞功能以促进斑块稳定性是一个令人兴奋的治疗前景。本综述将概述不同巨噬细胞亚群在动脉粥样硬化进展全过程及逆转模型中的作用。显然，我们对巨噬细胞功能的许多理解来自体外或小动物模型，虽然这些知识很有价值，但为了确定可能促进斑块稳定性的关键靶向途径，我们还有很多关于巨噬细胞亚群在临床环境中的作用需要了解。
