About this Research Topic

Background

There is strong evidence from large randomized clinical trials that colchicine 0.5mg daily can alter the progression of coronary atherosclerosis along with lipid lowering and anti-thrombotic therapies. This indicates that low-doses of colchicine has biological actions in the atherosclerotic bed.

Colchicine is known to have a wide range of cellular actions including its easy uptake by leukocytes and endothelial cells. This may explain why it has benefits in atherosclerosis, however very little is known about colchicine’s effect on non-immune cells such as smooth muscle cells, endothelial cells, and platelets. This knowledge is necessary to provide mechanistic understandings of the role of colchicine in cardiovascular disease (CVD) and whether colchicine has any novel effects not seen in other therapies.

This Research Topic will highlight novel bench research that has explored the effects of (low dose) colchicine in atherosclerotic models. Translational or therapeutic studies towards development of novel agents for the treatment of atherosclerosis that target pro- or anti-inflammatory (or other) pathways are also encouraged.

Led by an international team of subject experts, this Research Topic encourages articles with new findings related to colchicine in immune cells and inflammation in CVD will be considered. The Topic Editors particularly encourage submission of manuscripts with a focus on how colchicine may affect non-immune cells in CVD.

Keywords: colchicine, atherosclerosis, anti-inflammatory

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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