Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs): a possible model for studying cardiovascular biology systems.
BACKGROUND
The inflammation system, alone or in relation to or interaction with other cardiovascular pathways, is suggested to be the central pathway in the development and progression of cardiovascular diseases. The aim of the present investigation was to propose a specific and informative model for exploring this hypothesis.


METHODS
In a biological system approach, we studied the expression of 182 candidate cardiovascular genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), cells that provide specific information on the inflammatory pathway. We explored their expression in 20 individuals with or without risk factors (obesity, hypertension) for cardiovascular disease.


RESULTS
We found that: 1) 166 among the 182 selected genes were expressed in at least one individual's PBMCs, some of them being detected for the first time in this tissue; 2) all pathways were represented by the majority of their genes selected; 3) genes were expressed at a level sufficient for further study of the inter-individual variations in their mRNA to determine their biological variation; and 4) 15 genes discriminated hypertensive from obese or controls.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of the present investigation support our proposal of a promising novel strategy based on PBMC transcriptomic studies to elucidate the complexity of the cardiovascular system in relation to inflammation. Preliminary data support the usefulness of the PBMC model in hypertension/inflammation research.
1INSERM, U525, équipe 4, Nancy, France. sophie.visvikis-siest@nancy.inserm.fr
Sophie
S
Visvikis-Siest
Jean-Brice
JB
Marteau
Anastasia
A
Samara
Hind
H
Berrahmoune
Berangère
B
Marie
Michèle
M
Pfister
D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008954:Models, Biological; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012307:Risk Factors