© 2001 American Heart Association, Inc.
Letter to the Editor |
Letter to the Editor
1 Department of Cardiology, Jichi Medical School, Tochigi,
Japan, masafumi@jichi.ac.jp
2 Central Research Institute, Hokkaido University, Sapporo,
Japan
3 Tohoku Kohsei Nenkin Hospital, Sendai, Japan
4
5 Department of Cardiology, Jichi Medical School, Tochigi,
Japan
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De Novo Expression of Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor in Atherogenesis |
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 Top De Novo Expression of... References |
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To the Editor:
We read with great interest the article by Lin et al1 on the expression of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) in atherosclerotic lesions of a hypercholesterolemic rabbit model. They demonstrated, in the early stages of atherogenesis, marked upregulation of MIF mRNA. The protein was detected in vascular endothelial cells with CD68-positive macrophages adhering to endothelial cells and subsequently migrating into the subendothelial space. However, MIF expression by smooth muscle cells was transient during atherogenesis. Interestingly, the accumulation of macrophages was exclusively localized to areas of strong MIF expression, which may be responsible for the development of foam cell–rich lesions in hypercholesterolemic rabbits.
We previously reported that MIF was expressed in
macrophages2 and endothelial
cells.3 Furthermore, we
recently investigated MIF expression in human atherectomy samples
obtained from coronary and femoral arteries of patients with coronary
and peripheral artery diseases. Strong MIF expression was localized in
CD68-positive macrophages, whereas weak MIF expression was detected in
-actin–positive smooth muscle cells of atherosclerotic lesions.
These findings suggest that, as observed in a rabbit model by Lin et
al,1 macrophages are a major
source of MIF expression in human atherosclerotic vessels, and
upregulation of MIF expression by these cells may contribute to local
macrophage accumulation, ultimately resulting in macrophage-rich
atherosclerotic lesion formation in humans.
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References |
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TopDe Novo Expression of...References |
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1. Lin S-G, Yu X-Y, Chen Y-X, Huang X-R, Metz C, Bucala R, Lau C-P, Lan HY. De novo expression of macrophage migration inhibitory factor in atherogenesis in rabbits. Circ Res. 2000;87:1202–1208.
2. Sakamoto W, Nishihira J, Fujie K, Handa H, Ozaki M, Yukawa S. Inhibition of macrophage migration inhibitory factor secretion from macrophages by vitamin E. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1998;1404:427-434.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
3. Nishihira J, Koyama Y, Mizue Y. Identification of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) in human vascular endothelial cells and its induction by lipopolysaccharide. Cytokine. 1998;10:199-205.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
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