BACKGROUND Atherosclerotic plaque progression is frequently accompanied by compensatory enlargement to preserve the lumen. These enlarging plaques develop features of vulnerability, however, leading to disruption and lumen obstruction. This complex transition from compensatory expansion to plaque disruption may not derive solely from progressive intimal disease. Concurrent changes at the intimo...

It is well established that carotid atherosclerotic disease and the resulting plaque tissue composition are associated with thromboembolic complications, namely stroke and transient ischemic attacks [1]. MR studies have sought to identify carotid plaque inflammation using Ultra-small Super-Paramagnetic Iron Oxide (USPIO) contrast agents. Ferumoxtran-10, known commercially as SineremTM (Guerbet,...

Sound data support the concept that in atherosclerosis, inflammation and dyslipidemia intersect each other and that irrespective of the initiator, both participate from the early stages to the ultimate fate of the atheromatous plaque. The two partakers manoeuvre a vicious circle in atheroma formation: dyslipidaemia triggers an inflammatory process and inflammation elicits dyslipidaemia. Indepen...

OBJECTIVE Atherosclerosis is prevalent in diabetic patients, but there is little information on the localization of nonesterified fatty acids (NEFAs) within the plaque and their relationship with inflammation. We sought to characterize the NEFA composition and location in human diabetic atheroma plaques by metabolomic analysis and imaging and to address their relationship with inflammation acti...

Chronic periodontitis is an inflammatory disease of the supporting tissues of the teeth associated with a polymicrobial biofilm (subgingival plaque) accreted to the tooth which results in destruction of the tooth's supporting tissues. A characteristic feature of the disease-associated plaque is the emergence of proteolytic species. One of these species, Porphyromonas gingivalis has recently bee...

Neuro-inflammation, biochemical and cellular responses of the nervous system to injury, infection or neurodegenerative diseases, is a major risk factor for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Multiple Sclerosis. Periodontitis is a serious bacterial gum infection that damages the soft tissue and teeth supporting bones, causing teeth loss. It also renders systemic inflammation by secretion of pro-inflam...

BACKGROUND It is estimated that about half of cardiovascular disease risk is explained by conventional risk factors. The realization that atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease has led to a search for new stroke and cardiovascular disease risk factors and treatments. As such, the vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque has become the main focus for new medical strategies for plaque stabilization ...

Introduction: Dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI provides the ability to characterize tissue vascularity and permeability by measuring kinetic parameters such as the fractional plasma volume vp, the transfer constant Ktrans, or the area under the enhancement versus time curve (AUC). In atherosclerotic plaque, these parameters were found to be strongly influenced by inflammatory activity charac...

Reduced bioavailable nitric oxide (NO) plays a key role in the enhanced leukocyte recruitment reflective of systemic inflammation thought to precede and underlie atherosclerotic plaque formation and instability. Recent evidence demonstrates that inorganic nitrate (NO3-) through sequential chemical reduction in vivo provides a source of NO that exerts beneficial effects upon the cardiovascular s...

Chronic unresolved inflammation plays a causal role in the development of advanced atherosclerosis, but the mechanisms that prevent resolution in atherosclerosis remain unclear. Here, we use targeted mass spectrometry to identify specialized pro-resolving lipid mediators (SPM) in histologically-defined stable and vulnerable regions of human carotid atherosclerotic plaques. The levels of SPMs, p...