TY - JOUR
T1 - Selective estrogen receptor modulation influences atherosclerotic plaque composition in a rabbit menopause model
AU - Choi, Brian G.
AU - Vilahur, Gemma
AU - Zafar, M. Urooj
AU - Cardoso, Luis
AU - Yadegar, Daniel
AU - Ibanez, Borja
AU - Tunstead, James
AU - Viles-Gonzalez, Juan F.
AU - Schaffler, Mitchell B.
AU - Fuster, Valentin
AU - Badimon, Juan J.
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was made possible by NIH grants SCOR HL54469 and R01 HL071264 (to Dr. Fuster and Dr. Badimon), NHLBI grant T32 HL007824 (to Dr. Choi), a Spanish Ministry of Science & Education grant (to Dr. Vilahur), and an investigator-initiated research grant from Lilly Research Laboratories. The authors thank Jose Rodriguez, MD, and Constantin Novoselsky, MD, for their help in the surgical procedures; Anthony Lopez for expert planimetry; Barbara Bonacasa, Ph.D., and Boris Cortes, MD, for assistance with the molecular studies; and David Cox, Ph.D., and Mary Jane Geiger, MD, Ph.D., Eli Lilly & Company, for unrestricted support throughout this project. The authors would like to give special thanks to Gregg Goldschlager, DVM, Reginald Miller, DVM, and the staff of the Mount Sinai Center for Comparative Medicine & Surgery for dedicated animal care.
PY - 2008/11
Y1 - 2008/11
N2 - Objective: Osteoporosis trials suggest raloxifene decreased cardiovascular events in women with pre-existing atherosclerosis. We assessed the hypothesis that selective estrogen receptor modulation induces plaque stability in "menopausal" animals. Methods and results: Atherosclerosis was induced in 42 ovariectomized New Zealand white rabbits by cholesterol feeding and mechanical injury. Animals were imaged by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for baseline atherosclerosis, and randomized to control (OVX (ovariectomized control group), n = 12), raloxifene 35-60 mg/kg/day by diet admixture (RLX (raloxifene therapy group), n = 24), or immediate sacrifice (n = 6) for immunohistopathologic correlation of MRI. Six months later, rabbits underwent repeat MRI then sacrifice for micro-computed tomography (μCT) and molecular analysis. Unlike OVX, RLX reduced atheroma volume. Analysis for lesion inflammation revealed reductions in COX-2 (cyclooxygenase-2), MMP-1 (matrix metalloproteinase-1), MCP-1 (monocyte chemoattractant protein-1) expression and macrophage infiltration in RLX versus OVX with concomitant upregulation of estrogen receptor α (ERα). μCT showed similar total vascular calcification between groups, but calcifications in RLX were less nodular with better radial organization (mean calcific arc angle 63 ± 7° versus 33 ± 6° in OVX), the predicted result of a 53% increase in BMP-2 (bone-morphogenetic protein-2). Conclusions: Raloxifene treatment results in reduced lesion volume, enhanced mechanical stability of vascular calcification, and less inflamed lesions characterized by less macrophage infiltration and reduced COX-2, MMP-1 and MCP-1 expression.
AB - Objective: Osteoporosis trials suggest raloxifene decreased cardiovascular events in women with pre-existing atherosclerosis. We assessed the hypothesis that selective estrogen receptor modulation induces plaque stability in "menopausal" animals. Methods and results: Atherosclerosis was induced in 42 ovariectomized New Zealand white rabbits by cholesterol feeding and mechanical injury. Animals were imaged by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for baseline atherosclerosis, and randomized to control (OVX (ovariectomized control group), n = 12), raloxifene 35-60 mg/kg/day by diet admixture (RLX (raloxifene therapy group), n = 24), or immediate sacrifice (n = 6) for immunohistopathologic correlation of MRI. Six months later, rabbits underwent repeat MRI then sacrifice for micro-computed tomography (μCT) and molecular analysis. Unlike OVX, RLX reduced atheroma volume. Analysis for lesion inflammation revealed reductions in COX-2 (cyclooxygenase-2), MMP-1 (matrix metalloproteinase-1), MCP-1 (monocyte chemoattractant protein-1) expression and macrophage infiltration in RLX versus OVX with concomitant upregulation of estrogen receptor α (ERα). μCT showed similar total vascular calcification between groups, but calcifications in RLX were less nodular with better radial organization (mean calcific arc angle 63 ± 7° versus 33 ± 6° in OVX), the predicted result of a 53% increase in BMP-2 (bone-morphogenetic protein-2). Conclusions: Raloxifene treatment results in reduced lesion volume, enhanced mechanical stability of vascular calcification, and less inflamed lesions characterized by less macrophage infiltration and reduced COX-2, MMP-1 and MCP-1 expression.
KW - Atherosclerosis
KW - Inflammation
KW - Osteoporosis
KW - Selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM)
KW - Vascular calcification
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U2 - 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2008.01.017
DO - 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2008.01.017
M3 - Article
C2 - 18367192
AN - SCOPUS:53849129582
VL - 201
SP - 76
EP - 84
JO - Atherosclerosis
JF - Atherosclerosis
SN - 0021-9150
IS - 1
ER -