Distribution of inflammatory cells in adventitia changed with advancing atherosclerosis of human coronary artery.
OBJECTIVE
Since atherosclerosis was recognized as an inflammatory disease in 1990, the infiltration of macrophages and T lymphocytes has been reported to be predominant in human atherosclerotic lesions. Although adventitis accompanying atherosclerosis was also described in many reports, it is still unclear whether T lymphocytes or B lymphocytes are predominant in the adventitis. In this study, the authors immunohistochemically investigated the correlation between the transition of infiltrating inflammatory cells in the adventitia with atherosclerosis and the type of coronary atherosclerosis.


METHODS
Sixty-four coronary atherosclerotic lesions from a surgical specimen and 47 autopsy cases were used for immunohistochemical study of CD45RO, CD20, CD68 and others. Atherosclerosis was classified into type I, II, III, IV according to the 1995 AHA classification.


RESULTS
T lymphocyte infiltration in the adventitia was predominantly recognized in about 80% (38/48) of cases, but B lymphocyte infiltration was occasionally recognized in about 20% (10/48). Among 10 cases with B lymphocyte infiltration, small lymph follicles formed in 3 cases. This inflammatory response in adventitia subsided in type III and augmented again in type IV.


CONCLUSIONS
This result suggested that other inflammatory stimuli were induced in the adventitia in type IV coronary atherosclerosis.
Watanabe
Makoto
M
Faculty of Health Sciences, Kobe University School of Medicine, Kobe, Japan. watanabe@kobe-u.ac.jp
Sangawa
Akiko
A
Sasaki
Yoshifumi
Y
Yamashita
Maiko
M
Tanaka-Shintani
Michiko
M
Shintaku
Masayuki
M
Ishikawa
Yuichi
Y
D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000032:analysis; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology; D002634:Chemotaxis, Leukocyte; D003238:Connective Tissue / Q000473:pathology*; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000145:classification* / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007249:Inflammation / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology
D015703:Antigens, CD