- As a punch one-two a fatty diet and the body's own immune system conspire to bring on heart disease. Fat and cholesterol clog arteries and block blood flow, starving the heart of oxygen. In the meantime, this clogging produces plaques that damage the artery wall, which attract immune cells that aggravate inflammation. Now researchers seem to have found a way to soften these blows: According to a report in the issue tomorrow Nature , injections of an antibody significantly reduced injuries and cholesterol deposits in mice
Mouse. normally do not get hardening of the arteries, so a team led by Francois Mach and Uwe Schonbeck to Boston and Brigham Women's Hospital turned to a modified strain of mice unable to break cholesterol. They fed 10 mice a diet high in cholesterol for about 3 months, during which the animals developed a similar arterial inflammation to that of humans. With soaring levels of lipids and stable plaque buildup, mouse face a dismal prognosis
The team then targeted the suspected culprits behind the atherosclerotic inflammation -. An immune cell called CD40 and its molecular kicker, CD40 ligand (CD40L), which binds to CD40. Researchers have reasoned that, by injecting into the bloodstream of an antibody to CD40L, they may prevent the binding of CD40 to CD40L and soothe inflammation of the lesions induced by the plate. Indeed, mice received injections twice per week of antibody CD40L for 12 weeks showed lesions that have become 59% smaller and 79% contain less cholesterol, abnormalities in controls. The discovery "shows the way" to new treatment strategies against atherosclerosis, says team member Peter Libby, chief of cardiology at Brigham and Women.
Other experts echo the cautious enthusiasm. "This is the first step toward a productive area of research," said Momtaz Wassef, who heads the atherosclerosis research group at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Human trials could be years away, Wassef but hopes the antibody could prove to be a powerful weapon against heart attacks and strokes.
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