Interventional hepatic apoC-III knockdown improves atherosclerotic plaque stability and remodeling by triglyceride lowering

Bibliographic Details
Title: Interventional hepatic apoC-III knockdown improves atherosclerotic plaque stability and remodeling by triglyceride lowering
Authors: Bastian Ramms, Sohan Patel, Xiaoli Sun, Ariane R. Pessentheiner, G. Michelle Ducasa, Adam E. Mullick, Richard G. Lee, Rosanne M. Crooke, Sotirios Tsimikas, Joseph L. Witztum, Philip L.S.M. Gordts
Source: JCI Insight, Vol 7, Iss 13 (2022)
Publisher Information: American Society for Clinical investigation, 2022.
Publication Year: 2022
Collection: LCC:Medicine
Subject Terms: Metabolism, Vascular biology, Medicine
More Details: Apolipoprotein C-III (apoC-III) is a critical regulator of triglyceride metabolism and correlates positively with hypertriglyceridemia and cardiovascular disease (CVD). It remains unclear if therapeutic apoC-III lowering reduces CVD risk and if the CVD correlation depends on the lipid-lowering or antiinflammatory properties. We determined the impact of interventional apoC-III lowering on atherogenesis using an apoC-III antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) in 2 hypertriglyceridemic mouse models where the intervention lowers plasma triglycerides and in a third lipid-refractory model. On a high-cholesterol Western diet apoC-III ASO treatment did not alter atherosclerotic lesion size but did attenuate advanced and unstable plaque development in the triglyceride-responsive mouse models. No lesion size or composition improvement was observed with apoC-III ASO in the lipid-refractory mice. To circumvent confounding effects of continuous high-cholesterol feeding, we tested the impact of interventional apoC-III lowering when switching to a cholesterol-poor diet after 12 weeks of Western diet. In this diet switch regimen, apoC-III ASO treatment significantly reduced plasma triglycerides, atherosclerotic lesion progression, and necrotic core area and increased fibrous cap thickness in lipid-responsive mice. Again, apoC-III ASO treatment did not alter triglyceride levels, lesion development, and lesion composition in lipid-refractory mice after the diet switch. Our findings suggest that interventional apoC-III lowering might be an effective strategy to reduce atherosclerosis lesion size and improve plaque stability when lipid lowering is achieved.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 2379-3708
Relation: https://doaj.org/toc/2379-3708
DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.158414
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/d3c85ea05ac64087a50365d3f59dcc54
Accession Number: edsdoj.3c85ea05ac64087a50365d3f59dcc54
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:23793708
DOI:10.1172/jci.insight.158414
Published in:JCI Insight
Language:English