Autoimmunity linked to heart disease

[Guest guest]

This just came through on my dog genetics list (!) but I thought some of you

might find it interesting as it specifically mentions lupus and since there

seem to be several in this group with concurrent heart problems.

Sue

> Two-Way Link Between Heart Disease And Autoimmunity

> 4/19/2004

>

> Source: Rockefeller University Press

>

> Autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus are associated

> with an increased risk of atherosclerosis and heart disease, which is the

leading

> cause of death in the developed world. A new mouse model, reported by

> Walsh and colleagues in The Journal of Experimental Medicine, now shows

that

> the converse is also true -- atherosclerosis can make autoimmunity worse.

> Patients with autoimmune disease, in which the body's immune system

attacks its

> own tissues, have higher levels of fatty deposits in blood vessels (known

as

> atherosclerotic lesions), which cause heart disease. To investigate the

link

> between these disorders, the authors crossed an autoimmune-prone mouse

with

> another that develops atherosclerosis to create a new mouse strain with

> susceptibility to both diseases.

> These mice had bigger fatty deposits in their blood vessels than the

parent

> mice that were only susceptible to atherosclerosis. So, as in humans,

> autoimmune disease makes heart disease worse. This ties in with the

proposed role of

> immune cells in forming atherosclerotic lesions.

> The authors were surprised to find also that atherosclerosis worsens

> autoimmunity. The new mice had more severe autoimmune symptoms than the

parent mice

> that were only susceptible to autoimmunity. Symptoms were made even worse

by

> feeding the mice a high-fat diet, as is common in Western countries.

> Autoimmune disease can be caused by inefficient removal of the dying cells

> that result from constant cell turnover in our bodies. If this cellular

debris

> accumulates, it can trigger an immune response against our own organs. The

new

> mice had high levels of such debris. Walsh and colleagues think that the

> oxidized fats that cause atherosclerosis also prevent the removal of

dead-cell

> garbage and autoimmunity results.

> This work implies that patients with autoimmune disease may benefit from

> low-fat diets.

> ###

> Nickey Henry

> henryn@...

>

> Rockefeller University Press

>

>

>

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