Ultrastructural studies on the phenotypic modulation of human intimal smooth muscle cells

The present study was carried out to clarify the mechanism of intimal thickening at the ostia of celiac and superior mesenteric arteries. The cell components involved in the process were analyzed under electron microscope. Autopsy samples from cases without significant atherosclerotic diseases were examined and the percentages of smooth muscle cells in either synthetic or contractile state, macrophages, and foam cells in the intima of mesenteric and celiac arteries were calculated. Smooth muscle cells in the synthetic state were predominant in the proximal region and those in the contractile state were predominant in the distal region. Few macrophages were present in both regions. The intima in the proximal and distal regions of celiac arteries in autopsy samples was further divided into three layers and the percentages of various smooth muscle cell phenotypes in each layer were calculated and compared in patients at different ages. In the proximal region, the phenotype of the smooth muscle cells changed from the synthetic to the contractile state from the deeper to the superficial layers with the advance of age. In the distal region, the contractile state was dominant regardless of the age. These results suggest that the phenotypic modulation of human intimal smooth muscle cells is reversible dedifferentiation-redifferentiation process; this phenomenon plays an important role in the initiation of atherosclerosis.