High dose rosuvastatin increases ABCA1 transporter in human atherosclerotic plaques in a cholesterol-independent fashion.

BACKGROUND: ATP-binding cassette A1 (ABCA1) and G1 (ABCG1) mediate cholesterol efflux from lipid-laden macrophages, thus promoting anti-atherosclerotic outcomes. The mechanism(s) linking treatment with statins and ABCA1/ABCG1 in human atherosclerosis are not fully understood and require further investigation. Therefore, we studied whether short-term treatment with low- or high-dose rosuvastatin may affect ABCA1 and ABCG1 expression in human atherosclerotic plaques. METHODS: Seventy patients with severe stenosis of the internal carotid artery were randomized to receive low (10 mg/day) or high (40 mg/day) dose rosuvastatin for 12 weeks before elective endarterectomy. As controls, we analyzed a reference group of 10 plaques from subjects with hypercholesterolemia but not receiving statin treatment and an additional set of 11 plaques collected from normocholesterolemic patients. On atherosclerotic plaques, ABCA1 and ABCG1 expression was evaluated at RNA level by qPCR and at protein level by immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Both rosuvastatin doses were associated with lower plaque ABCA1 mRNA levels and with a trend toward reduction for ABCG1. However, ABCA1 protein was paradoxically higher in patients treated with high-dose rosuvastatin and was associated with lower levels of miR-33b-5p, a microRNA known as a regulator of ABCA1. Multivariate analyses showed that the effect is cholesterol-independent. Finally, no effects were found for ABCG1 protein. CONCLUSIONS: High-dose rosuvastatin increases macrophage ABCA1 protein levels in human atherosclerotic plaque despite mRNA reduction in a mechanism unrelated to plasma cholesterol reduction and potentially involving miR-33b-5p. This pathway may reflect an additional feature contributing to the anti-atherosclerotic effect for high-dose rosuvastatin. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN16590640.

One-step immunochromatographic visual assay for anti-transglutaminase detection in organ culture system: An easy and prompt method to simplify the in vitro diagnosis of celiac disease.

BACKGROUND: Anti-tissue transglutaminase (anti-tTG) and endomysium antibodies (EMA) are detectable in duodenal culture media of celiac disease (CD) patients. To improve the management of this organ culture system, we evaluated the anti-tTG occurrence by immunochromatographic assay (ICA). METHODS: A total of 103 CD patients and 41 disease controls underwent duodenal biopsy for the organ culture. In culture supernatants, IgA anti-tTG were tested by both enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and ICA, IgA EMA were searched by indirect immunofluorescence analysis (iIFA). RESULTS: Endomysium antibodies and anti-tTG measured by ELISA were positive in culture media of all CD patients, while anti-tTG detected by ICA were positive in culture media of 87/103 CD patients. Anti-tTG ICA scores significantly correlated with anti-tTG ELISA values (r=.71, P<.0001). Sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy of anti-tTG detected by ICA were 84.5%, 100% and 88.9%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Using ICA, anti-tTG are detectable in duodenal culture media of most CD patients and the intensity of indicative lines depends on the anti-tTG concentration. Sensitivity and diagnostic accuracy achieved with ICA are lower than those obtained with ELISA but, given that the first is a more easy and prompt method, data suggest the possibility of utilizing it in the in vitro diagnosis of CD.