[Role of monocytes-macrophages in atherogenesis]

The study of the coronary arteries atherogenesis with the use of scanning and transmission electron microscopy was performed on the material of emergency necropsies of 45 patients who suffered the primary cardiovascular pathology. The transformation of macrophages into the foamy cells were studied in vitro with the use of peritoneal mouse macrophages and modified LDL labelled with colloidal gold as well as a method of phase-contrast cinemicrography. Two types of macrophages were distinguished ultrastructurally: scavenger-macrophages participating in the phagocytosis of lipoproteins and transforming into the foamy cells and secreting macrophages determining vascular wall homeostasis and ensuring the T-lymphocyte inclusion into the immune reactions and the contact with target cells. Balanced cell kinetics and cytokine secretion at early stages of atherosclerosis determine whether the lipid spot would regress or would transform into the atherosclerotic plaque.