Age-Related Neointimal Hyperplasia Is Associated With Monocyte Infiltration After Balloon Angioplasty

• Published in: The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences Vol. 67A; no. 2; pp. 109 - 117
• Main Authors: Eghbalieh, Sammy D. D., Chowdhary, Paraag, Muto, Akihito, Ziegler, Kenneth R., Kudo, Fabio A., Pimiento, Jose M., Mirmehdi, Issa, Model, Lynn S., Kondo, Yuka, Nishibe, Toshiya, Dardik, Alan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Oxford University Press 01-02-2012
• Series: Editor's Choice
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Aging; Aging - metabolism; Aging - pathology; Angioplasty; Angioplasty, Balloon - adverse effects; Animals; Carotid Arteries - pathology; Carotid Artery Injuries - etiology; Carotid Artery Injuries - metabolism; Carotid Artery Injuries - pathology; Chemokine CCL2 - biosynthesis; Chemokine CCL2 - genetics; Disease Models, Animal; Electrophoresis, Agar Gel; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation; Humans; Hyperplasia; Journal of Gerontology: BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; Monocytes - metabolism; Monocytes - pathology; Neointima - metabolism; Neointima - pathology; Older people; Proteins; Rats; Rats, Inbred F344; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; RNA - genetics; Rodents; Balloon angioplasty; Aging; Carotid angioplasty; MCP-1; Monocyte
• ISSN: 1079-5006; 1758-535X
• DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glr190

Carotid angioplasty is associated with adverse events in elderly patients; it is unclear whether this is related to an altered inflammatory axis. The carotid arteries of young (6 months) or aged (22-24 months) Fischer 344 rats were balloon injured. Aged rats had reduced lumen area (0.18 ± 0.03 vs 0.24 ± 0.01 mm2, p = .02) and increased neointimal thickening (0.15 ± 0.04 vs 0.08 ± 0.03 mm2, p = .006). Aged rats had increased circulating monocytes (96 ± 21 vs. 54 ± 7; p = .002) as well as increased numbers of monocytes at the post-angioplasty site. Aged rats had sustained monocyte chemotactic protein-1 expression after angioplasty but young rats did not. Aged arteries also exhibited defective vasorelaxation and abnormal eNOS localization. Aged (≥80 years) human patients with high-grade carotid stenosis had increased number of monocytes (9.1% ± 0.4%) compared with younger (65-80 years) patients (8.1% ± 0.3%, p = .013). Aged rats develop neointimal hyperplasia after carotid angioplasty with increased numbers of monocytes, and elderly humans with carotid stenosis have increased numbers of circulating monocytes. These preliminary results may suggest a role for monocytes in the response to carotid angioplasty.