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Carotid artery intima-media thickness and reactive oxygen species formation by monocytes in hypertensive patients

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 20, pages 336–340 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) is a widely accepted index for assessing atherosclerosis, and is known to be a risk indicator for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events. Oxidative stress and inflammation are also known to play critical roles in the pathogenesis of vascular events. We studied the association between IMT and inflammatory markers, such as oxidative stress in polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) and mononuclear cells (MNCs) in 156 patients with essential hypertension. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation by PMNs and MNCs was measured by gated flow cytometry. CRP and traditional risk factors, such as age, gender, body mass index, hemoglobin A1c, and total cholesterol were also measured. The subjects were divided into a plaque group (max-IMT⩾1.1 mm, n=40), and a nonplaque group (max-IMT<1.1 mm, n=116). ROS formation by MNCs was significantly increased in the plaque group when compared with the nonplaque group (P<0.0001). Multiple regression analysis revealed a significant correlation between IMT and ROS formation by MNCs (r=0.407, P<0.0001), or CRP (r=0.216, P=0.0029) or hemoglobinA1c (r=0.158, P=0.0270) or age (r=0.157, P=0.0447). No significant correlation was observed between IMT and ROS formation by PMNs. These results suggest that carotid artery IMT may be affected by increased ROS formation by MNCs, and that increased ROS formation by MNCs may be related to the development of atherosclerosis. We propose that ROS formation by MNCs is a marker for prediction of carotid atherosclerosis.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Yukiko Tainaka, Sayuri Takagi and Aiko Hamada for excellent secretarial assistance.

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  1. Department of Medicine and Cardiology, Osaka City University Medical School, Asahimachi, Abeno, Osaka, Japan

    T Watanabe, K Yasunari, M Nakamura & K Maeda

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  1. T Watanabe
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  2. K Yasunari
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  3. M Nakamura
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  4. K Maeda
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Correspondence to K Yasunari.

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Watanabe, T., Yasunari, K., Nakamura, M. et al. Carotid artery intima-media thickness and reactive oxygen species formation by monocytes in hypertensive patients. J Hum Hypertens 20, 336–340 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jhh.1001990

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