acid-phosphatase and Coronary-Artery-Disease

-Retrospectively, plaque rupture is often colocalized with inflammation of the cap and shoulder of the atherosclerotic plaque. Local inflammation is therefore considered a potential marker for plaque vulnerability. However, high specificity of inflammation for plaque rupture is a requisite for application of inflammation markers to detect rupture-prone lesions. The objective of the present study was to investigate the prevalence and distribution (local versus general) of inflammatory cells in nonruptured atherosclerotic plaques. The cap and shoulder of the plaque were stained for the presence of macrophages and T lymphocytes in 282 and 262 cross sections obtained from 74 coronary and 50 femoral arteries, respectively. From most cases, 2 atherosclerotic arteries were studied to gain insight into the local and systemic distribution of the inflammatory process. In 45% and 41% of all cross sections, staining for macrophages was observed in the femoral and coronary arteries, respectively. Rupture of the fibrous cap was observed in 2 femoral and 3 coronary artery segments and was always colocalized with inflammatory cells. At least 1 cross section stained positively for CD68 or acid phosphatase in 84% and 71% of all femoral and coronary arteries, respectively. Only 1 femoral and 6 coronary arteries revealed a positive stain for CD68 in all investigated segments. Inflammation of the cap and shoulder of the plaque is a common feature, locally observed, in atherosclerotic femoral and coronary arteries. The high prevalence of local inflammatory responses should be considered if they are used as a diagnostic target to detect vulnerable, rupture-prone lesions.

Topics: Acid Phosphatase; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Antigens, CD; Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic; Arteriosclerosis; Arteritis; Coronary Artery Disease; Female; Femoral Artery; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Leukocyte Common Antigens; Macrophages; Male; Rupture, Spontaneous

Coronary arteries of 93 clinically healthy Finnish children of both sexes were collected from successive, medicolegal autopsies of victims of violent death. In the histological and histochemical study, local, cushion-type thickenings of the coronary walls were demonstrable in 47, i.e. 50 per cent, of the children, the occurrence increasing with age. The most prominent change was the splitting of the internal elastic membrane and the accumulation of smooth muscle cells, forming a new, musculo-elastic layer. Glycosaminoglycans appeared in the luminal parts of the thickenings. There was an average decrease in the succinate dehydrogenase reaction in the cushion area, implying a degenerative process. The increase in the reaction of "injury markers", acid phosphatase and esterase based on the increase of cells rich in these enzymes, indicated pathologic process. It was concluded that change of this kind, demonstrable early in childhood, may dispose coronary arteries to atherosclerosis.

Topics: Acid Phosphatase; Adolescent; Child; Child, Preschool; Coronary Artery Disease; Coronary Vessels; Female; Finland; Histocytochemistry; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Male; Risk Factors; Succinate Dehydrogenase