elastin and Hyperlipidemias

Topics: Aged; Aging; Animals; Aorta; Arteries; Arteriosclerosis; Basement Membrane; Blood Platelets; Cell Adhesion; Child, Preschool; Collagen; Diet, Atherogenic; Elastin; Endothelium; Extracellular Matrix; Humans; Hyperlipidemias; Middle Aged; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular; Platelet Aggregation; Skin

Topics: Aminopropionitrile; Androgens; Animals; Arteriosclerosis; Blood Vessels; Cell Differentiation; Cholesterol; Collagen; Cyproterone; Elastin; Estrogens; Glycosaminoglycans; Humans; Hyperlipidemias; Hypertension; Muscle, Smooth; Rabbits; Rats

Elastin is a major arterial structural protein, and elastin-derived peptides are related to arterial change. We previously reported on a novel assay developed using aortic elastin peptides; however, its clinical implications remain unclear. In this study, we assessed whether anti-elastin antibody titers reflect the risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) or its characteristics.. We included 174 CAD patients and 171 age- and sex-matched controls. Anti-elastin antibody titers were quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Parameters of arterial stiffness, including the augmentation index (AI) and heart-to-femoral pulse wave velocity (hfPWV), were measured non-invasively. The clinical and angiographic characteristics of CAD patients were also evaluated. Associations between anti-elastin levels and vascular characteristics were examined by linear regression analysis.. The median blood level of anti-elastin was significantly lower in the CAD group than in the controls [197 arbitrary unit (a.u.) vs. 63 a.u., p<0.001]. Levels of anti-elastin were significantly lower in men and in subjects with hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, or high hfPWV. Nevertheless, anti-elastin levels were not dependent on atherothrombotic events or the angiographic severity of CAD. In a multivariate analysis, male sex (β=-0.38, p<0.001), diabetes mellitus (β=-0.62, p<0.001), hyperlipidemia (β=-0.29, p<0.001), and AI (β=-0.006, p=0.02) were ultimately identified as determinants of anti-elastin levels.. Lower levels of anti-elastin are related to CAD. The association between antibody titers and CAD is linked to arterial stiffness rather than the advancement of atherosclerosis.

Topics: Aged; Angiography; Antibodies; Atherosclerosis; Coronary Artery Disease; Elastin; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Female; Humans; Hyperlipidemias; Hypertension; Male; Middle Aged; Pulse Wave Analysis; Vascular Stiffness

To examine whether a lack of prostaglandin E receptor 4 (EP4) on bone marrow-derived cells would increase local inflammation and enhance the formation of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) in vivo.. Prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) through activation of EP4, can mute inflammation. Hypercholesterolemic low-density lipoprotein receptor knockout (LDLR(-/-)) mice transplanted with either EP4(+/+) (EP4(+/+)/LDLR(-/-)) or EP4(-/-) (EP4(-/-)/LDLR(-/-)) bone marrow received infusions of angiotensin II to induce AAA. Deficiency of EP4 on bone marrow-derived cells increased the incidence (50% of male EP4(+/+)/LDLR(-/-) mice versus 88.9% of male EP4(-/-)/LDLR(-/-) mice developed AAA; and 22% of female EP4(+/+)/LDLR(-/-) mice versus 83.3% of female EP4(-/-)/LDLR(-/-) mice developed AAA) and severity of AAA, increased monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (2.72-fold in males and 1.64-fold in females), and enhanced infiltration of macrophages (3.8-fold in males and 2.44-fold in females) and T cells (1.88-fold in males and 1.66-fold in females) into AAA lesions. Lack of EP4 on bone marrow-derived cells augmented elastin fragmentation, increased apoptotic markers, and decreased smooth muscle cell accumulation within AAA lesions.. Deficiency of EP4 on bone marrow-derived cells boosted inflammation and AAA formation induced by angiotensin II in hyperlipidemic mice. This study affirms the pathophysiologic importance of PGE(2) signaling through EP4 as an endogenous anti-inflammatory pathway involved in experimental aneurysm formation.

Topics: Angiotensin II; Animals; Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal; Bone Marrow Cells; Bone Marrow Transplantation; Chemokine CCL2; Elastin; Female; Gene Deletion; Hyperlipidemias; Inflammation; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Knockout; Models, Animal; Receptors, LDL; Receptors, Prostaglandin E, EP4 Subtype; Risk Factors

Patients with diabetes are at substantially increased risk for atherosclerosis and clinical cardiovascular events. Because arterial extracellular matrix contains several molecules, including biglycan, versican, hyaluronan, and elastin, that may affect plaque lipid retention and stability, we determined whether diabetes affects plaque content of these molecules in a porcine model of hyperlipidemia and diabetes. Coronary artery sections were studied from non-diabetic normolipidemic (n=11, N-NL), diabetic normolipidemic (n=10, DM-NL), non-diabetic hyperlipidemic (n=16, N-HL), and diabetic hyperlipidemic (n=15, DM-HL) animals. Hyaluronan, biglycan, versican, and apolipoprotein B (apoB) were detected with monospecific peptides or antisera, and elastin with Movat's pentachrome stain, and contents of each were quantified by computer-assisted morphometry. In the hyperlipidemic groups, diabetes was associated with a 4-fold increase in intimal area, with strong correlations between intimal area and immunostained areas for hyaluronan (R(2) = 0.83, p<0.0001), biglycan (R(2) = 0.72, p<0.0001), and apoB (R(2) = 0.23, p=0.0069). In contrast, median (interquartile range) intimal elastin content was significantly lower with diabetes [N-HL: 5.2% (2.4-8.2%) vs DM-HL: 1.5% (0.5-4.2%), p=0.01], and there was a strong negative correlation between intimal total and elastin areas (Spearman r = -0.62, p=0.001). In this porcine model, diabetes was associated with multiple extracellular matrix changes that have been associated with increased lesion instability, greater atherogenic lipoprotein retention, and accelerated atherogenesis.

Topics: Animals; Apolipoproteins B; Biglycan; Coronary Artery Disease; Coronary Vessels; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental; Elastin; Extracellular Matrix; Extracellular Matrix Proteins; Hyaluronic Acid; Hyperlipidemias; Lipoproteins, LDL; Male; Proteoglycans; Swine; Tunica Intima; Versicans

The Watanabe hereditary hyperlipidemic (WHHL) rabbit is an animal model that resembles humans with familial hyperlipidemia. In the thoracic aortae, there is also morphologic evidence of marked destruction of medial lamellar elastin fibers. Herein is provided the chemical evidence of elastolytic degradation. The levels of lysyl oxidase (L.Ox.), soluble elastin (SE) and insoluble elastin (IE) were estimated in thoracic aortae samples from New Zealand white (NZW) and WHHL rabbits at 6 months of age or 5 WHHL rabbits at 2.5 years of age. Enzyme-linked immunosorption assays (ELISA) were used in the L.Ox. and SE measurements. IE was measured following alkali extraction of aortae. There was a decrease in IE in thoracic aortae from Watanabe rabbits compared to NZW controls at 6 months of age (P < 0.1), and a further loss of IE in aortae from 2.5-year-old WHHL rabbits relative to the values at 6 months (P < 0.05). Average values for IE were: 130 mg/g for 6-month-old NZW, 100 mg/g for 6-month-old WHHL, and 60 mg/g for 2.5-year-old WHHL rabbits. Moreover, SE was only observed in aorta extracts from the older WHHL rabbits, a sign of elastolytic damage. There was also a five- to sixfold decrease in L.Ox. in the older vs. younger rabbits.

Topics: Aging; Animals; Aorta; Disease Models, Animal; Elastin; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Hyperlipidemias; Protein-Lysine 6-Oxidase; Rabbits; Solubility

Exposure of smooth muscle cells cultured on plastic or glass to hyperlipidemic serum did not result in the formation of foam cells. Since elastin binds serum lipids, and vascular smooth muscle cells are normally closely associated with elastin, we investigated the effects of an elastin substrate on lipid metabolism and on the accumulation of lipid vacuoles by rabbit aortic smooth muscle cells in culture. When cells were grown in plastic petri dishes, cholesteryl ester synthesis, as measured by [14C]oleate incorporation into cholesteryl esters, was 3 times greater in rabbit hyperlipidemic serum (HLS) than in normolipemic serum (NLS) (P less than 0.001). For cells of the same subculture grown on the elastin substrate, the synthetic rate was 6-fold greater in HLS compared to NLS (P less than 0.005). The cells grown on the elastin membranes in the presence of HLS contained large numbers of Oil red O stainable lipid vacuoles and resembled foam cells, while those grown in petri dishes and exposed to HLS showed only an occasional cell containing a few vacuoles. Pre-incubation in lipoprotein-deficient serum markedly enhanced the stimulatory effect of HLS on cholesteryl ester synthesis for cells growing in plastic petric dishes but had much less stimulatory effect on the cells growing on elastin membranes. These studies indicate that close association with elastin modulates the response of smooth muscle cells to hyperlipidemia and suggest a role for elastin in the formation of foam cells of smooth muscle origin during atherogenesis.

Topics: Animals; Aorta, Thoracic; Arteriosclerosis; Binding Sites; Cells, Cultured; Cholesterol Esters; Elastin; Foam Cells; Hyperlipidemias; Macrophages; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular

Explants from rabbit aortic media were incubated in MEM medium supplemented with 14C-lysine and with 10 p. 100 hyperlipemic (type IV and V) or normal human serum respectively. The incubated fragments were extracted at increasing ionic strength. The insoluble collagen and elastin were hydrolysed with collagenase and alcoholic potassium hydroxyde respectively. The radioactivity was determined in the extracts and the radioactive labelling profile of proteins was investigated on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in SDS. With the exception of the collagenase extract (polymeric collagen) the incorporation of the radioactivity into insoluble collagen is not altered or increases. These the incubation was carried out in the presence of hyperlipemic serum. Incorporation of the radioactivity into insoluble collagen seems not to be altered. These results show a decreased protein synthesis with a relative increase in the biosynthesis of polymeric insoluble collagen in the aortic media incubated in the presence of hyperlipemic serum.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Animals; Aorta; Carbon Radioisotopes; Collagen; Elastin; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; Humans; Hydrolysis; Hydroxides; Hyperlipidemias; Intercellular Junctions; Macromolecular Substances; Microbial Collagenase; Middle Aged; Muscle, Smooth; Organ Culture Techniques; Potassium; Rabbits

Arterial elastin appears to be a proteinlipid complex with the lipid component being bound to elastin peptide groups. In atherosclerotic lesions the lipid content of elastin increases progressively with increasing severity of atherosclerosis. The increases in the lipid content of plaque elastin are mainly due to large increases in cholesterol with about 80% of the cholesterol being cholesterol ester. This deposition of cholesterol in elastin accounts for a substantial part of the total cholesterol accumulation in atherosclerotic lesions of all stages. The present in vitro study suggests that the mechanism involved in the deposition of lipids in arterial elastin may be an interaction of the elastin protein with serum or arterial low density or very low density lipoproteins (LDL and VLDL) resulting in a transfer of lipids, but not of lipoprotein protein to the elastin. No significant lipid transfer occurred from the high density lipoproteins or chylomicrons. The amount of lipid taken up by plaque elastin was strikingly higher than by normal elastin and consisted mainly of cholesterol with over 80% of the cholesterol being cholesterol ester. The precondition for the lipid accumulation in plaque elastin appeared to be an altered amino acid composition of the elastin protein consisting of an increase in polar amino acids and a reduction in cross-linking amino acids. Subsequent treatment of lipoprotein-incubated arterial elastin with hot alkali and apolipoproteins did not reverse the binding of lipoprotein lipid to diseased elastin.

Topics: Amino Acids; Arteriosclerosis; Cholesterol; Chylomicrons; Elastin; Humans; Hydrolysis; Hyperlipidemias; In Vitro Techniques; Iodine Isotopes; Lipid Metabolism; Lipoproteins; Lipoproteins, LDL; Lipoproteins, VLDL; Protein Binding; Sodium Hydroxide; Trypsin

Topics: Arteriosclerosis; Calcium; Cholesterol; Collagen; Elastin; Glycosaminoglycans; Humans; Hyperlipidemias; Hypertension; Lipid Metabolism; Lipoproteins; Smoking; Thrombin

Topics: Arteriosclerosis; Elastic Tissue; Elastin; Humans; Hyperlipidemias; Lipoproteins; Pancreatic Elastase; Pancreatic Extracts; Peptide Hydrolases; Serine Endopeptidases