Grajeda-Iglesias Claudia, Aviram Michael
The Lipid Research Laboratory, Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel, Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
Rambam Maimonides Med J. 2018 Jul 30;9(3):e0022. doi: 10.5041/RMMJ.10337.
The strong relationship between cardiovascular diseases (CVD), atherosclerosis, and endogenous or exogenous lipids has been recognized for decades, underestimating the contribution of other dietary components, such as amino acids, to the initiation of the underlying inflammatory disease. Recently, specific amino acids have been associated with incident cardiovascular disorders, suggesting their significant role in the pathogenesis of CVD. Special attention has been paid to the group of branched-chain amino acids (BCAA), leucine, isoleucine, and valine, since their plasma values are frequently found in high concentrations in individuals with CVD risk. Nevertheless, dietary BCAA, leucine in particular, have been associated with improved indicators of atherosclerosis. Therefore, their potential role in the process of atherogenesis and concomitant CVD development remains unclear. Macrophages play pivotal roles in the development of atherosclerosis. They can accumulate high amounts of circulating lipids, through a process known as macrophage foam cell formation, and initiate the atherogenesis process. We have recently screened for anti- or pro-atherogenic amino acids in the macrophage model system. Our study showed that glycine, cysteine, alanine, leucine, glutamate, and glutamine significantly affected macrophage atherogenicity mainly through modulation of the cellular triglyceride metabolism. The anti-atherogenic properties of glycine and leucine, and the pro-atherogenic effects of glutamine, were also confirmed in vivo. Further investigation is warranted to define the role of these amino acids in atherosclerosis and CVD, which may serve as a basis for the development of anti-atherogenic nutritional and therapeutic approaches.
心血管疾病（CVD）、动脉粥样硬化与内源性或外源性脂质之间的紧密关系已被认识数十年，但其他饮食成分（如氨基酸）对潜在炎症性疾病起始的贡献却被低估。最近，特定氨基酸已与心血管疾病的发生相关联，表明它们在CVD发病机制中具有重要作用。支链氨基酸（BCAA）组，即亮氨酸、异亮氨酸和缬氨酸，受到了特别关注，因为在有CVD风险的个体中经常发现它们的血浆值处于高浓度。然而，饮食中的BCAA，尤其是亮氨酸，已与动脉粥样硬化指标的改善相关联。因此，它们在动脉粥样硬化形成过程及伴随的CVD发展中的潜在作用仍不明确。巨噬细胞在动脉粥样硬化发展中起关键作用。它们可通过一种称为巨噬细胞泡沫细胞形成的过程积累大量循环脂质，并启动动脉粥样硬化形成过程。我们最近在巨噬细胞模型系统中筛选了抗动脉粥样硬化或促动脉粥样硬化的氨基酸。我们的研究表明，甘氨酸、半胱氨酸、丙氨酸、亮氨酸、谷氨酸和谷氨酰胺主要通过调节细胞甘油三酯代谢显著影响巨噬细胞的动脉粥样硬化性。甘氨酸和亮氨酸的抗动脉粥样硬化特性以及谷氨酰胺的促动脉粥样硬化作用在体内也得到了证实。有必要进一步研究以确定这些氨基酸在动脉粥样硬化和CVD中的作用，这可能为开发抗动脉粥样硬化的营养和治疗方法提供基础。
