Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Dyslipidaemia

PCSK9 inhibitors and foamy monocytes in familial hypercholesterolaemia

Nature Reviews Cardiology volume 14, pages 385–386 (2017)Cite this article

Subjects

Accumulation of foam cells — macrophages with intracellular lipid droplets — in arterial walls is a hallmark of atherosclerosis. Bernelot Moens and colleagues report increases in circulating monocytes with intracellular lipid accumulation, associated CCR2 expression, and enhanced monocyte migration in patients with familial hypercholesterolaemia. These changes could be reversed by PCSK9-inhibitor treatment.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Monocyte phenotypes in patients with familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) and effects of PCSK9 inhibitors.

References

  1. Rahman, M. S., Murphy, A. J. & Woollard, K. J. Effects of dyslipidaemia on monocyte production and function in cardiovascular disease. Nat. Rev. Cardiol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nrcardio.2017.34 (2017).

  2. Bernelot Moens, S. J. et al. PCSK9 monoclonal antibodies reverse the pro-inflammatory profile of monocytes in familial hypercholesterolaemia. Eur. Heart J. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehx002 (2017).

  3. Sabatine, M. S. et al. Evolocumab and clinical outcomes in patients with cardiovascular disease. N. Engl. J. Med. http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1615664 (2017).

  4. Ridker, P. M. et al. Cardiovascular efficacy and safety of bococizumab in high-risk patients. N. Engl. J. Med. 376, 1527–1539 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Bernelot Moens, S. J. et al. Remnant cholesterol elicits arterial wall inflammation and a multilevel cellular immune response in humans. Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol. https://doi.org/10.1161/ATVBAHA.116.308834 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Xu, L. et al. Foamy monocytes form early and contribute to nascent atherosclerosis in mice with hypercholesterolemia. Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol. 35, 1787–1797 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Wu, H. et al. Functional role of CD11c+ monocytes in atherogenesis associated with hypercholesterolemia. Circulation 119, 2708–2717 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Khan, I. M. et al. Postprandial monocyte activation in individuals with metabolic syndrome. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 101, 4195–4204 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Varela, L. M. et al. A high-fat meal promotes lipid-load and apolipoprotein B-48 receptor transcriptional activity in circulating monocytes. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 93, 918–925 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Christensen, J. J. et al. Altered leukocyte distribution under hypercholesterolemia: a cross-sectional study in children with familial hypercholesterolemia. Atherosclerosis 256, 67–74 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors are supported by NIH grant R01 HL098839, AHA award AHA16GRNT30410012, and American Diabetes Association award 1-17-IBS-082. We thank Zeqin Lian (Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA) for helpful input, and Kerrie Jara (Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA) for editorial assistance.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Huaizhu Wu and Christie M. Ballantyne are at the Section of Cardiovascular Research, Baylor College of Medicine, 6565 Fannin Street, MS A601, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.,

    Huaizhu Wu & Christie M. Ballantyne

Authors
  1. Huaizhu Wu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Christie M. Ballantyne
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Huaizhu Wu.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

C.M.B. has received grant/research support from and is a consultant for Amgen, Regeneron, and Sanofi-Synthelabo. H.W. declares no competing interests.

PowerPoint slides

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wu, H., Ballantyne, C. PCSK9 inhibitors and foamy monocytes in familial hypercholesterolaemia. Nat Rev Cardiol 14, 385–386 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrcardio.2017.75

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrcardio.2017.75

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing