title: Increased cyclooxygenase-2 expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of smokers and hyperlipidemic subjects.
abstract: Cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 is expressed in macrophages of arteriosclerotic lesions and promotes inflammation. We investigated whether COX-2 is already expressed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of subjects possessing risk-related factors, such as in smokers and hyperlipidemics. PBMCs were isolated from the venous blood of normolipidemic nonsmokers (NL-NSM; n = 15), normolipidemic smokers (NL-SM; n = 12), hyperlipidemic nonsmokers (HL-NSM; n = 10), and hyperlipidemic smokers (HL-SM; n = 10). RNA from PBMCs was used for RT-PCR. Plasma concentrations of oxidized low-density lipoproteins (oxLDL) were measured by ELISA, those of glutamate and cystine by HPLC. The results show that COX-2 expression in PBMCs was significantly increased in the groups with cardiovascular risk factors (NL-SM, HL-SM, HL-NSM) compared with NL-NSM. COX-2 expression in PBMCs was positively correlated with concentrations of total serum cholesterol, oxLDL, glutamate, or cystine. We suggest that the elevated COX-2 expression indicates a priming of PBMCs as a response to a systemic pro-oxidative and proinflammatory shift in subjects with cardiovascular risk factors, which might also contribute to growth and instability of arteriosclerotic lesions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology III, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 307, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Gabriel A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Bonaterra
authors.forename: Wulf
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hildebrandt
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bodens
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sauer
authors.forename: Klaus A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Dugi
authors.forename: Hans-Peter
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Deigner
authors.forename: Wulf
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Dröge
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Metz
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kinscherf
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000596:Amino Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D015153:Blotting, Western; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000378:metabolism; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2; D003545:Cysteine / Q000737:chemistry; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006801:Humans; D006949:Hyperlipidemias / Q000378:metabolism*; D007249:Inflammation; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology*; D008077:Lipoproteins, LDL / Q000378:metabolism; D008264:Macrophages / Q000166:cytology; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D016877:Oxidants / Q000378:metabolism; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism; D011451:Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D012313:RNA / Q000378:metabolism; D012044:Regression Analysis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012306:Risk; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D008077:Lipoproteins, LDL; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D016877:Oxidants; D012313:RNA; D002784:Cholesterol; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2; C496540:PTGS2 protein, human; D011451:Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases; D003545:Cysteine; D010100:Oxygen