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Hamostaseologie 2015; 35(02): 113-120
DOI: 10.5482/HAMO-14-08-0034
Review
Schattauer GmbH

The role of mast cells in atherosclerosis

Die Rolle der Mastzellen bei der Atherosklerose
A. Wezel
1   Division of Biopharmaceutics, LACDR, Leiden University, The Netherlands
2   Department of Surgery, Leiden University Medical Center, The Netherlands
,
P. H. A. Quax
2   Department of Surgery, Leiden University Medical Center, The Netherlands
,
J. Kuiper
1   Division of Biopharmaceutics, LACDR, Leiden University, The Netherlands
,
I. Bot
1   Division of Biopharmaceutics, LACDR, Leiden University, The Netherlands
› Author AffiliationsThis work was supported by a grant from the Dutch Heart Foundation: A.W. 2010B029; I.B. 2012T083. We acknowledge the support from the Netherlands Cardio Vascular Research Initiative: “the Dutch Heart Foundation, Dutch Federation of University Medical Centres, the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences” for the GENIUS project “Generating the best evidencebased pharmaceutical targets for atherosclerosis” (CVON2011–19).
Further Information

Publication History

received: 26 August 2014

accepted in revised form: 21 October 2014

Publication Date:
28 December 2017 (online)

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Summary

Rupture of an atherosclerotic plaque is the major underlying cause of adverse cardiovascular events such as myocardial infarction or stroke. Therapeutic interventions should therefore be directed towards inhibiting growth of atherosclerotic lesions as well as towards prevention of lesion destabilization. Interestingly, the presence of mast cells has been demonstrated in both murine and human plaques, and multiple interventional murine studies have pointed out a direct role for mast cells in early and late stages of atherosclerosis. Moreover, it has recently been described that activated lesional mast cells correlate with major cardiovascular events in patients suffering from cardiovascular disease.

This review focuses on the effect of different mast cell derived mediators in atherogenesis and in late stage plaque destabilization. Also, possible ligands for mast cell activation in the context of atherosclerosis are discussed. Finally, we will elaborate on the predictive value of mast cells, together with therapeutic implications, in cardiovascular disease.

Zusammenfassung

Die Ruptur einer atherosklerotischen Plaque ist der wichtigste Auslöser unerwünschter kardiovaskulärer Ereignisse wie Myokardinfarkt oder Schlaganfall. Daher sollten therapeutische Interventionen auf die Inhibition des Wachstums atherosklerotischer Läsionen zielen und außerdem der Destabilisierung der Läsionen vorbeugen. Interessant ist, dass bei Nagern und auch beim Menschen Mastzellen in Plaques nachgewiesen wurden. Zahlreiche Interventionsstudien an Nagern wiesen auf eine direkte Rolle der Mastzellen im Frühund Spätstadium der Atherosklerose hin. Darüber hinaus wurde kürzlich beschrieben, dass aktivierte läsionale Mastzellen bei Patienten mit Herz-Kreislauf-Krankheiten mit größeren kardiovaskulären Ereignissen in Zusammenhang stehen.

In dieser Übersicht liegt der Fokus auf dem Effekt der von Mastzellen freigesetzten Zytokine bei der Atherogenese und Destabilisierung der Plaques im Spätstadium. Daneben werden mögliche Liganden für die Mastzellaktivierung im Kontext der Atherosklerose diskutiert. Schließlich befassen wir uns noch mit der prognostischen Bedeutung der Mastzellen sowie den therapeutischen Konsequenzen bei Herz-Kreislauf-Krankheiten.

Keywords

Mast cells - atherosclerosis - plaque instability - proteases - therapy

Schlüsselwörter

Mastzellen - Atherosklerose - Plaqueinstabilität - Proteasen - Therapie
 

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