Short-term changes in arterial inflammation predict long-term changes in atherosclerosis progression

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Imaging
• Atherosclerosis Research

Background:

• Arterial wall inflammation is a key factor in atherosclerosis.
• The relationship between short-term inflammation changes and long-term plaque progression remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if changes in arterial inflammation correlate with subsequent structural progression of atherosclerosis.
• To determine if increased 18-fludeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake predicts atherosclerosis progression over two years.

Main Methods:

• A sub-study of the dal-PLAQUE trial utilized multi-modal imaging: 18-fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
• Carotid FDG target-to-background ratio (TBR) measured arterial inflammation; MRI assessed plaque progression via mean wall area (MWA) and mean wall thickness (MWT) changes over 24 months.

Main Results:

• Participants with increased arterial inflammation over 6 months showed significantly greater long-term increases in MWT (17.49%) and MWA (25.50%) compared to those without.
• These associations remained significant after adjusting for covariates.
• No significant structural atherosclerosis progression was observed in individuals with stable arterial inflammation.

Conclusions:

• Short-term fluctuations in arterial inflammation are linked to long-term structural changes in atherosclerosis.
• Findings suggest that therapies targeting arterial inflammation could potentially slow or stop atherosclerosis progression.