Research Article
Infection and Microparticles may Cause Complication of Atherosclerotic Plaques
Author(s): Renata Nishiyama Ikegami, Joyce Tiyeko Kawakami, Dulcineia Saes Parra Abdalla, Raul Dias Santos, Roberto Kalil Filho, Jose Antônio Franchini Ramires and Maria de Lourdes HiguchiRenata Nishiyama Ikegami, Joyce Tiyeko Kawakami, Dulcineia Saes Parra Abdalla, Raul Dias Santos, Roberto Kalil Filho, Jose Antônio Franchini Ramires and Maria de Lourdes Higuchi
Atherosclerosis is frequently associated with diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome and oxidized low density lipoproteins (oxLDL). Many studies have reported association of infection with such disorders, but with controversial results. In our view, these findings have relationship with technical differences. We showed previously, presence of infectious agents inside of ruptured plaque, using immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy. More recently, we detected Electron Lucent microparticles (ELMP) and Mycoplasma pneumoniae (Mp) lipoproteins in vulnerable plaques (VP).
However, we have interest to know if ELMPs contain Mp lipoprotein antigens and if they are related to oxLDL and plaque vulnerability.
Methods: We studied three groups of coronary arteries: VP (vulnerable plaque; n=13), stable plaqu.. View More»
