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REVIEW article

Front. Cell Dev. Biol.
Sec. Molecular and Cellular Pathology
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fcell.2024.1446758
This article is part of the Research Topic Vascular- and Immuno-Metabolism as Drivers of Cardiovascular Disease: Insights Obtained from Omics Approaches View all 4 articles

Moving from Lipids to Leukocytes: Inflammation and Immune Cells in Atherosclerosis

Provisionally accepted
Maxim E. Annink Maxim E. Annink 1Jordan M. Kraaijenhof Jordan M. Kraaijenhof 1Erik S. Stroes Erik S. Stroes 1Jeffrey Kroon Jeffrey Kroon 1,2,3,4,5*
  • 1 Department of Vascular Medicine, Amsterdam Cardiovascular Sciences, Amsterdam University Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • 2 Department of Experimental Vascular Medicine, Amsterdam Cardiovascular Sciences, Amsterdam University Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • 3 Laboratory of Angiogenesis and Vascular Metabolism, VIB-KU Leuven Center for Cancer Biology, VIB, Leuven, Belgium
  • 4 Laboratory of Angiogenesis and Vascular Metabolism, VIB KU Leuven Center for Cancer Biology, Leuven, Belgium
  • 5 Amsterdam Cardiovascular Sciences, Atherosclerosis & Ischemic Syndromes, Amsterdam, Netherlands

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) is the most important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. While it is traditionally attributed to lipid accumulation in the vascular endothelium, recent research has shown that plaque inflammation is an important additional driver of atherogenesis. Though clinical outcome trials utilizing anti-inflammatory agents have proven promising in terms of reducing ASCVD risk, it is imperative to identify novel actionable targets that are more specific to atherosclerosis to mitigate adverse effects associated with systemic immune suppression. To that end, this review explores the contributions of various immune cells from the innate and adaptive immune system in promoting and mitigating atherosclerosis by integrating findings from experimental studies, high-throughput multi-omics technologies, and epidemiological research.

    Keywords: Vascular Medicine, Atherosclerosis, Inflammation, cardiovascular disease, immune cells

    Received: 10 Jun 2024; Accepted: 22 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Annink, Kraaijenhof, Stroes and Kroon. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jeffrey Kroon, Department of Vascular Medicine, Amsterdam Cardiovascular Sciences, Amsterdam University Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.