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Published on: October 12, 2017
Heme-heme oxygenase-2 reduces the atherosclerosis by preventing inflammation
Zhenzhen Wang1, Xiaoqiang Zhan2, Shuai Yang2
1Cancer Institute, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China.
Objective:
Heme oxygenase (HO) has been shown to have important antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, resulting in a vascular antitherogenic effect. This study was undertaken to evaluate the role of HO-2 in atherosclerosis.
Method And Results:
The expression levels of HO-2 were evaluated in M1 and M2 bone marrow macrophage induced by LPS and IL4. The expression of HO-2 was significantly higher in M2 macrophage than in M1 macrophage. Western diet (WD) caused a significant increase in HO-2 expression in ApoE-/- mice. The adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors expressing HO-2 was constructed, and the mice were received saline (ApoE-/-), AAV (ApoE-/-), AAV-HO-2 (ApoE-/-) on WD at 12 weeks and their plasma lipids, inflammatory cytokines, atherosclerosis were evaluated for 16 weeks. The results showed AAV-HO-2 was robust, with a significant decrease in the en face aortas, lipids levels, inflammatory cytokines and M1 macrophage content in AAV-HO-2 ApoE-/- compared to control AAV-ApoE-/-.
Conclusion:
HO-2 expression in macrophages plays an important role of the antiatherogenic effect, decreasing the inflammatory component of atherosclerotic lesions. These results suggest that HO-2 may be a novel therapeutic target for cardiovascular diseases.
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