Lysed Erythrocyte Membranes Promote Vascular Calcification
Background: Intraplaque hemorrhage promotes atherosclerosis progression, and erythrocytes may contribute to this process. In this study we examined the effects of red blood cells on smooth muscle cell mineralization and vascular calcification and the possible mechanisms involved. Methods: Erythrocytes were isolated from human and murine whole blood. Intact and lysed erythrocytes and their membrane fraction or specific erythrocyte components were examined in vitro using diverse calcification assays, ex vivo by using the murine aortic ring calcification model, and in vivo after murine erythrocyte membrane injection into neointimal lesions of hypercholesterolemic apolipoprotein E–deficient mi…
Endothelial Leptin Receptor Deletion Promotes Cardiac Autophagy and Angiogenesis Following Pressure Overload by Suppressing Akt/mTOR Signaling.
Background: Cardiac remodeling is modulated by overnutrition or starvation. The adipokine leptin mediates energy balance between adipose tissue and brain. Leptin and its receptors are expressed in the heart. Methods and Results: To examine the importance of endothelial leptin signaling in cardiac hypertrophy, transverse aortic constriction was used in mice with inducible endothelium-specific deletion of leptin receptors (End.LepR-KO) or littermate controls (End.LepR-WT). End.LepR-KO was associated with improved left ventricular function (fractional shortening, 28.4% versus 18.8%; P =0.0114), reduced left ventricular dilation (end-systolic inner left ventricular diameter, 3.59 versus 4.08 m…
Increased Lymphangiogenesis and Lymphangiogenic Growth Factor Expression in Perivascular Adipose Tissue of Patients with Coronary Artery Disease
Experimental and human autopsy studies have associated adventitial lymphangiogenesis with atherosclerosis. An analysis of perivascular lymphangiogenesis in patients with coronary artery disease is lacking. Here, we examined lymphangiogenesis and its potential regulators in perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) surrounding the heart (C-PVAT) and compared it with PVAT of the internal mammary artery (IMA-PVAT). Forty-six patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery were included. Perioperatively collected C-PVAT and IMA-PVAT were analyzed using histology, immunohistochemistry, real time PCR, and PVAT-conditioned medium using cytokine arrays. C-PVAT exhibited increased PECAM-1 (platele…