The Alpha 7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor in Human Coronary Artery Disease

The Alpha 7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor in Human Coronary Artery Disease

• Autor
• Ildernandes Vieira-Alves
• Co-autores
• William Bruno Alves da Silva , Weslley Fernandes- Braga , Bruno Almeida Resende , Edenil Costa Aguilar , Jacqueline Isaura Alvarez Leite , Claudio Léo Gelape , Steyner de França Cortês , Rafaela Fernandes da Silva , Virginia Soares Lemos
• Resumo

• Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the narrowing or blockage of the coronary arteries, mainly caused by atherosclerosis. The clinical consequence of CAD is myocardial infarction, the leading cause of morbidity/mortality worldwide. Atherosclerosis is a slowly progressing chronic inflammatory disorder of large and medium-sized arteries. In the last years, there has been extensive growth in the understanding on the anti-inflammatory role of the alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (?7nAChR). In this regard, the ?7nAChR have been reported to be expressed in advanced human atherosclerosis and to play a role in the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis in animal models. The involvement of ?7nAChR in human atherosclerosis and CAD is largely unknown. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the correlation between ?7nAChR and the development of human CAD. The right coronary artery (RCA) was removed from cardiac transplant surgery, performed at the clinical hospital at UFMG, and used for basic histology, immunofluorescence, and immunohistochemistry studies. All the procedures were approved by the UFMG Research Ethics Committee (CAAE 82255517.4.0000.5149). Vascular samples were assembled into two groups: initial and advanced atherosclerotic lesions. Thickening of the vascular layers and an increase in the percentage of remodeling, MCP1, lipids, and macrophages accumulation were observed in advanced, as compared to initial atherosclerotic lesions. The expression of ?7nAChR was also increased in advanced lesions. Immunofluorescence co-localization showed that the ?7nAChR are expressed in endothelial cells and macrophages. Interestingly, the expression of ?7nAChR in atherosclerotic lesions was positively correlated with macrophage infiltration into the lesions. Together, our data show for the first time that the ?7nAChR expression increases with the progression of atherosclerosis in human RCA and that their expression positively correlates with macrophage infiltration. Therefore, the ?7nAChR may have a role in the pathophysiology of human CAD.

• Palavras-chave
• Coronary artery disease, inflammation; atherosclerosis, ?7nAChR.
• Modalidade
• Pôster
• Área Temática
• Inflamação e doenças vasculares