A research report appearing in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology helps explain how specific immune cells, called macrophages, accumulate triglycerides to support their function. Because a characteristic finding in atherosclerosis is the accumulation of fat in macrophages in the arterial wall, understanding how macrophages accumulate triglycerides may lead to new approaches toward slowing or stopping the development of atherosclerosis.
"Activation of macrophages leads to the accumulation of triglycerides in macrophages by multiple pathways that may have beneficial effects in host defense but could contribute to the accelerated atherosclerosis that occurs in chronic infections and inflammatory disease," said Kenneth R. Feingold, M.D., a researcher involved in the work from the Metabolism Section at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San Francisco, California. "By understanding the pathways that lead to this lipid accumulation in activated macrophages one might be able to manipulate these pathways to stimulate lipid accumulation to improve host defense or inhibit these pathways to reduce atherosclerosis depending on the clinical circumstances."