PMID- 12427409
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20030103
LR  - 20190708
IS  - 0735-1097 (Print)
IS  - 0735-1097 (Linking)
VI  - 40
IP  - 9
DP  - 2002 Nov 6
TI  - Multicentric inflammation in epicardial coronary arteries of patients dying of 
      acute myocardial infarction.
PG  - 1579-88
AB  - OBJECTIVES: We sought to test the hypothesis of whether inflammatory cell 
      infiltration in patients dying of an acute myocardial infarction (MI) is a 
      multifocal event involving multiple coronary branches. BACKGROUND: Coronary 
      instability is thought to reflect local disruption of a single vulnerable plaque. 
      However, previous postmortem studies have not addressed the question of whether 
      activation of inflammatory cells, particularly T lymphocytes, is limited to the 
      culprit lesion only or rather diffuse in the coronary circulation. METHODS: We 
      performed a systematic flow cytometric study in three groups of autopsied 
      patients (group 1 = acute MI; group 2 = old MI; group 3 = no ischemic heart 
      disease). Cell suspensions of enzymatically digested coronary arteries were 
      stained for flow cytometry with CD3, CD68, alpha-smooth muscle actin, and human 
      leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR antibodies. RESULTS: The coronary plaques showed: 1) a 
      higher proportion of inflammatory cells in groups 1 and 2 than in group 3; 2) a 
      higher percentage of T lymphocytes in group 1 than in group 2 (11.67 +/- 0.70% 
      vs. 5.67 +/- 0.74%, p = 0.001) and in group 2 than in group 3 (p = 0.008); and 3) 
      diffuse cell activation in the whole coronary tree of group 1, but not of group 2 
      subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that lymphocytes may play a key role in 
      coronary instability by determining activation of various cellular types 
      throughout the coronary circulation. Activated T lymphocytes and their products 
      may well represent a new target in both the treatment and prevention of acute 
      coronary syndromes.
FAU - Spagnoli, Luigi Giusto
AU  - Spagnoli LG
AD  - Anatomic Pathology Division, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via della Ricerca 
      Scientifica, 00133 Rome, Italy. Spagnoli@uniroma2.it
FAU - Bonanno, Elena
AU  - Bonanno E
FAU - Mauriello, Alessandro
AU  - Mauriello A
FAU - Palmieri, Giampiero
AU  - Palmieri G
FAU - Partenzi, Antonietta
AU  - Partenzi A
FAU - Sangiorgi, Giuseppe
AU  - Sangiorgi G
FAU - Crea, Filippo
AU  - Crea F
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PL  - United States
TA  - J Am Coll Cardiol
JT  - Journal of the American College of Cardiology
JID - 8301365
RN  - 0 (HLA-DR Antigens)
SB  - IM
MH  - Aged
MH  - Coronary Artery Disease/complications/*immunology/physiopathology
MH  - Coronary Vessels/*immunology/*pathology
MH  - Female
MH  - Flow Cytometry
MH  - HLA-DR Antigens/immunology
MH  - Humans
MH  - Immunophenotyping
MH  - Male
MH  - Microscopy, Confocal
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Myocardial Infarction/etiology/*immunology/physiopathology
MH  - T-Lymphocytes/*immunology
EDAT- 2002/11/13 04:00
MHDA- 2003/01/07 04:00
CRDT- 2002/11/13 04:00
PHST- 2002/11/13 04:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2003/01/07 04:00 [medline]
PHST- 2002/11/13 04:00 [entrez]
AID - S0735109702023768 [pii]
AID - 10.1016/s0735-1097(02)02376-8 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - J Am Coll Cardiol. 2002 Nov 6;40(9):1579-88. doi: 10.1016/s0735-1097(02)02376-8.