The role of (auto-) immunity in atherogenesis

Recent data from different laboratories have provided evidence that the first stages of atherosclerosis are inflammatory in nature. Research in the last decades on this multifactorial disease has primarily focussed on the role of lipids, with only a few anecdotal findings suggesting the involvement of the immune system in atherogenesis. Within the group of antigens that may be responsible for this immunoactivation during atherogenesis, heat shock protein (hsp) 65/60 became a serious candidate based on the fact that immunization] of normocholesterolemic rabbits with hsp65 leads to the development of arteriosclerotic lesions in the aortic intima and these primary inflammatory lesions are aggravated by a cholesterol-rich diet, thus completely resembling human fatty streaks and atherosclerotic plaques. Furthermore, T cells in atherosclerotic lesions of rabbits have been shown to react specially with mycobacterial hsp65, suggesting that cell-mediated immune responses to hsp60 are also involved in the pathogenesis of this disease In a large epidemiological study we demonstrated that serum antibodies to mycobacterial hsp65 were significantly increased in clinically healthy subjects with sonographically demonstrable carotid atherosclerosis. These antibodies crossreact with human hsp60. Thus further elucidation of the role of the role of the immune system in atherogenesis could enhance our understanding of the mechanism of this vascular disorder, and may lead to new therapeutic strategies for atherosclerosis.