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Updated: Apr 22, 2026

Quantitative Analysis of Cellular Composition in Advanced Atherosclerotic Lesions of Smooth Muscle Cell Lineage-Tracing Mice
Published on: February 20, 2019
[B lymphocytes: a promising target to treat atherosclerosis?]
Moustafa Hamze1, Caroline Desmetz2, Paul Guglielmi3
1Centre de pharmacologie et d'innovation dans le diabète, EA 7288, Faculté de pharmacie, 15, avenue Charles Flahault, 34093 Montpellier, France - Institut de biologie et de -technologies de Saclay (iBiTec-S), service d'ingénierie moléculaire des protéines (SIMOPRO), centre CEA Saclay-Gif-sur-Yvette, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France.
Abstract:
Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the arterial wall. It is already well established that several immune cells (macrophages, T lymphocytes, etc.) modulate atherosclerosis progression whereas the role of the different subpopulations of B lymphocytes emerged only recently. B1 lymphocytes secrete protective IgM antibodies that act as scavenger of deleterious molecules whereas B2 lymphocytes probably worsen the disease by activating pro-inflammatory T lymphocytes. The outcome of these opposite functional properties of B lymphocytes on the evolution of arterial lesions may vary depending on their local environment during the different stages of the disease. In this review, we emphasize recent progresses in understanding the specific contribution of B lymphocytes to atherosclerosis and discuss the interest of targeting them to improve therapy.
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