title: A multiscale model of atherosclerotic plaque formation at its early stage.
abstract: A multiscale model of atherosclerotic plaque formation at its early stage has been developed in order to integrate the various phenomena leading to fatty streak formation. The different scales considered in this model are in both the spatial domain (from cellular to organism level) and the time domain (from seconds to months). The cellular level was considered by modeling the transport and chemical interactions of low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and other agents in a stenosed artery. This was linked to arterial thickening (organ level). Mean blood LDL level (organism level) was selected as one of the critical factors for atherosclerotic formation along with wall shear stress (WSS) exerted on the endothelium (the inner portion of the artery). It was observed that plaque location was dependent on WSS and that plaque size, number, and growth was dependent on mean blood LDL levels as well.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College London, London, WC1E 6EA, UK. g.tomaso@ucl.ac.uk
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Di Tomaso
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Díaz-Zuccarini
authors.forename: Cesar
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pichardo-Almarza
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D006801:Humans; D008077:Lipoproteins, LDL / Q000378:metabolism; D008264:Macrophages / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D058226:Plaque, Atherosclerotic / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D017539:Tunica Intima / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D008077:Lipoproteins, LDL