Ken Sugimoto
   Department   Kawasaki Medical School  Kawasaki Medical School, Department of General Geriatric Medicine,
   Position   Professor
Article types 原著
Language English
Peer review Peer reviewed
Title Fas ligand mRNA levels of circulating leukocytes reflect endothelial dysfunction in hyperlipidemic but not in non-hyperlipidemic patients.
Journal Formal name：Hypertension research : official journal of the Japanese Society of Hypertension
Abbreviation：Hypertens Res
ISSN code：09169636/09169636
Domestic / ForeginForegin
Volume, Issue, Page 29(4),pp.217-225
Author and coauthor Kotani Noriko, Fukuo Keisuke, Yasuda Osamu, Sugimoto Ken, Katuya Tomohiro, Takemura Yukihiro, Kawamoto Hidenobu, Yokoi Toyohiko, Suzuki Atsuko, Ogihara Toshio
Publication date 2006/04
Summary To find a novel marker for identifying patients at high-risk for endothelial dysfunction among patients with atherosclerosis, we examined the correlation between mRNA levels of Fas ligand (FasL), an apoptosis-inducing factor, in circulating leukocytes and clinical parameters in these patients. FasL mRNA levels of circulating leukocytes were measured with the TaqMan-PCR method. A negative correlation was observed between brachial artery flow-mediated dilatation (%FMD) and FasL mRNA levels of leukocytes in hyperlipidemic but not in non-hyperlipidemic patients. %FMD was more impaired in patients with a high level of FasL mRNA than in those with a low level of FasL mRNA. Interestingly, the improvement of %FMD by treatment with a 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitor (simvastatin) was greater in the group showing a decrease in FasL mRNA than in the group with no such decrease. Additionally, simvastatin suppressed the FasL mRNA expression in leukocytes and decreased plasma oxidized low-density lipoprotein (OxLDL) levels. Furthermore, the supernatant of cultured leukocytes from hyperlipidemic patients induced cell death in Jurkat T cells, which was neutralized by an antibody against FasL. These findings suggest that high FasL mRNA expression in circulating leukocytes may be a marker of high-risk for endothelial dysfunction in hyperlipidemic but not in non-hyperlipidemic patients. This information may provide a novel basis for targeting of statin therapy in patients with vulnerable plaques.
DOI 10.1291/hypres.29.217
PMID 16778328