Phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase C activity and level increase evidently in thromboangitis obliterans.

ABSTRACT

Thromboangitis obliterans (TAO) is considered to be an inflammatory disease. Previous research has demonstrated that phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase C (PC-PLC) plays critical roles in various inflammatory responses. However, the connection between PC-PLC and TAO is undetermined. Therefore, we sought to investigate whether PC-PLC was implicated in TAO. In our study, there were two groups TAO group and control group. The PC-PLC activity of serum of two groups (16 TAO patients and 11 controls) was detected by PC-PLC activity assay. The level and distribution of PC-PLC in posterior tibial arteries in seven TAO patients and four controls were detected by immunofluorescence staining method. PC-PLC activity increased greatly in serum of TAO patients. Immunofluorescence analysis also revealed an upregulation of PC-PLC in the vascular endothelium of TAO patients. Our data suggest that PC-PLC activity and level increase obviously in TAO patients. Our study may provide new clues for seeking pathogenesis of TAO. Furthermore, it may bring new insights into clinical diagnosis and treatment of TAO.