B lymphocytes, the cells of the immune system that produce antibodies, contribute to the development of atherosclerosis, researchers in France and the United Kingdom reported in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.
The results of studies carried out on mice are a big surprise for scientists, because so far it has been assumed that lymphocytes protect against this disease.
Atherosclerosis (sometimes called arteriosclerosis) is a chronic condition involving degenerative changes in the walls of arteries and gradually hardening them. Patients accumulate fat (mainly cholesterol) in the inner wall of the arteries. It happens as a result of disorders of fat metabolism, disorders of the blood coagulation system and local growth of connective tissue.
Groups of scientists from the Paris Cardiovascular Research Center and the University of Cambridge have jointly discovered that removing B cells from the blood of mice protects them against atherosclerosis. In rodents, there was an increased production of cytokine – a protein involved in the body’s immunity, the so-called interleukin 17 – inhibiting the development of atherosclerosis.
According to the authors of the study, their research suggests that drugs that destroy B lymphocytes currently used in the treatment of inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis may also reduce the risk of developing atherosclerosis. (PAP)