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Cholesterol Crystals and Inflammation

  • CRYSTAL ARTHRITIS (MH PILLINGER, SECTION EDITOR)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Chronic vascular inflammation is regarded as a crucial aspect of cardiovascular disease. However, the elicitors of this inflammatory response in the vessel wall are currently not well understood. Excessive amounts of cholesterol, an abundant and fundamental lipid molecule in mammalian cells, can initiate the development and progression of atherosclerosis. Accumulation of cholesterol in early atherosclerotic lesions results in the formation of macrophage foam cells, and crystalline cholesterol is found as a characteristic of advanced atherosclerotic plaques. Cholesterol crystals can activate the NLRP3 inflammasome, a multimolecular signaling complex of the innate immune system, resulting in caspase-1 mediated activation and secretion of proinflammatory interleukin-1 family cytokines. Furthermore, crystalline cholesterol is believed to induce plaque rupture by physical disruption of the fibrous cap covering atherosclerotic lesions. Here we review the effect of cholesterol deposition and crystallization on inflammatory responses in cardiovascular diseases.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Innate Immunity, University Hospitals Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53127, Bonn, Germany

    Alena Grebe & Eicke Latz

  2. Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 364 Plantation St, LRB 360A, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA

    Eicke Latz

  3. German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Ludwig-Erhard-Allee2, 53175, Bonn, Germany

    Eicke Latz

Authors
  1. Alena Grebe
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  2. Eicke Latz
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Correspondence to Eicke Latz.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Crystal Arthritis

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Grebe, A., Latz, E. Cholesterol Crystals and Inflammation. Curr Rheumatol Rep 15, 313 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11926-012-0313-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11926-012-0313-z

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