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Researchers at the La Jolla Institute For Allergy and Immunology shows how a diet high in fat and cholesterol depletes the ranks of artery-protecting immune cells, turning them into promoters of inflammation, which exacerbate atherosclerotic plaque buildup that occurs in cardiovascular disease. High density lipoproteins (HDL)-known as “good cholesterol” counteract this process, helping the protective immune cells maintain their identity and keep arteries clear.
Inflammation is responsible for hardening and narrowing of the arteries known as atherosclerosis-a condition that can lead to heart attack or stroke. The blockage of arteries is due to the immune system reacting to excess cholesterol and lipids in the walls of blood vessels. Some immune system contribute to the build-up of plaques, and others protect against it. T cells prevent the development of atherosclerosis. When mice are fed a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet- Western diet, their numbers of protective T cells decline.
Researchers fed some of the mice western diet and examined their immune cells after 15 weeks of this regime, they discovered that the regulatory T cells in the aorta-the large artery that carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body in all of the mice. But in the animals that consumed the Western diet there significant numbers of T cells in the lymph nodes and aorta.
Molecular analyses showed that some of the former regulatory T cells had become follicular helper T cells (Tfh). These are critical components of the immune system that fight off viral and bacterial infections. Tfh cells promote atherosclerosis by blocking the generation of Tfh cells, the scientists could reduce the development of plaques in the arteries of mice fed with Western diet.
Researchers administered apolipoprotein AI to some other mice, their T cells resisted the effects of the Western diet and did not change into Tfh cells. This shows how the immune system interact to shape cardiovascular risk. Eating western diet changes the protective cells and cause inflammation.
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