title: Overexpression of caspase-1 in aorta of patients with coronary atherosclerosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Plenty of studies on animals suggest the involvement of caspase-1 in the development of atherosclerosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the changes of caspase-1 in the aorta of patients with coronary atherosclerosis and its association with atherosclerotic risk factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  We collected button-sized aortic tissues from patients (n = 48) undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. Renal arterial tissues from 18 kidney donors without atherosclerosis were taken as control. The expression of caspase-1 was determined by immunohistochemistry, and Gensini score was used to evaluate the severity of coronary atherosclerosis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Caspase-1 was strongly expressed in aortas from CABG patients. Spearman correlation revealed that the aortic caspase-1 expression was significantly correlated with coronary severity scores (r = 0.656, P < 0.05). The relative level of aortic caspase-1 expression was elevated in patients who were smokers or with hypertension or diabetes. The caspase-1 expression was positively correlated with total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, and lipoprotein(a) (P < 0.05); but negatively correlated with high density lipoprotein cholesterol (P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings demonstrate a highly expressed caspase-1 in aortas from patients with coronary atherosclerosis, and that modulation of caspase-1 could be a potential target for prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis.
authors: Department of Cardiology, Qianfoshan Hospital, Shandong University, 16766 Jingshi Road, Jinan, 250014, PR China.
authors: Fei
authors: F
authors: Zheng
authors: Department of Cardiology, Qianfoshan Hospital, Shandong University, 16766 Jingshi Road, Jinan, 250014, PR China.
authors: Zushun
authors: Z
authors: Gong
authors: Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, 250355, PR China.
authors: Shanshan
authors: S
authors: Xing
authors: Department of Cardiology, Qianfoshan Hospital, Shandong University, 16766 Jingshi Road, Jinan, 250014, PR China. Electronic address: xingqichong@126.com.
authors: Qichong
authors: Q
authors: Xing
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001011:Aorta / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D020170:Caspase 1 / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D020170:Caspase 1
keywords: Atherosclerosis; Caspase-1; Coronary artery bypass graft.; Inflammasome; Risk factors