Atherosclerosis is a systemic, inflammatory disease of the large and medium-sized arteries. Although vascular interventions aim at treating focal stenosis, they may trigger systemic responses that accelerate lesions elsewhere. Elastin remodeling plays a crucial role in vessel wall thickening with monocytes and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) being the primary sources of elastin synthesis. In this study, we used an elastin-binding MR contrast agent to assess whether (1) vascular injury in the abdominal aorta accelerates atherosclerosis in the brachiocephalic artery located distally to the site of injury (2), whether antibiotic treatment alters vascular elastin remodeling and (3) whether antibiotic treatment alters VSMC migration and proliferation and monocyte recruitment and polarization.
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