Foam Cells – ABC CARDIOL

ABC

Editorial

Foam Cells in Atherosclerosis

In the early stages of atherosclerotic lesions, there is an accumulation of lipids in the tunica intima, which, in this location, undergo modifications such as oxidation and become capable of inducing inflammatory reactions and, consequently, the progression of the pathological process. It is worth noting that there are indications that interactions with components present in this arterial layer are important for fats to be retained and, therefore, subject to the modifications above that bring them pro-inflammatory properties. In this sense, it is interesting to note that while most mammalian species have a “virtual” arterial intima – that is, at light microscopy, the endothelium appears to lie directly on the internal elastic lamina (although observation electron microscopy reveals that this is not the case) and are less susceptible to atherosclerotic disease, species in which there is an amount of tissue that can be seen at light microscopy separating the endothelium from the internal elastic lamina, such as rabbits, pigs, apes and, mainly, human beings ( ), are the ones that are prone to such alteration.

[…]

Read Full Article

ABC

Original Article

Profile of IL-6 and TNF in Foam Cell Formation: An Improved Method Using Fluorescein Isothiocyanate (FITC) Probe

Cynthia Aparecida Castro et al. Tereza Cristina Buzinari Rafael Luis Bressani Lino Heloisa Sobreiro Selistre de Araújo … Fernanda de Freitas Aníbal Roberto Mario Machado Verzola Vanderlei Salvador Bagnato Natalia Mayumi Inada Gerson Jhonatan Rodrigues

Abstract

Background

The formation of foam cells occurs due to the increase in low-density plasma lipoprotein (LDL) and dysregulation of inflammation, which is important for the development of atherosclerosis.

Objective

To evaluate the profile of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and Interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the existing foam cell formation method, optimizing this protocol.

Methods

The LDL was isolated, oxidized, and labeled with a Fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) probe. Foam cells were generated from THP-1 human monocyte-derived cells and incubated in the absence (control) or presence of FITC-ox-LDL (10, 50, 100, 150, or 200 μg/mL), for 12, 24, 48, or 72 hours. The accumulated FITC-ox-LDL in the cell was quantified by microscopy. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was evaluated to quantify the IL-6 and TNF-α, with p < 0.05 considered significant.

Results

All the FITC-ox-LDL concentrations tested showed a higher fluorescence when compared to the control, showing a greater accumulation of lipoprotein in cells. The higher the concentration of FITC-ox-LDL, the greater the production of TNF-α and IL-6. The production of IL-6 by foam cells was detected up to the value of 150 µg/mL of the maximum stimulus for LDL. Concentrations above 50 μg/mL LDL stimulated greater release of TNF-α compared to control.

Conclusions

Our model contributes to the understanding of the release of IL-6 and TNF-α in response to different concentrations of ox-LDL, using an optimized method for the formation of foam cells.