Journal
ARTERIOSCLEROSIS THROMBOSIS AND VASCULAR BIOLOGY
Volume 31, Issue 1, Pages 58-+Publisher
LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS
DOI: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.110.210906
Keywords
atherosclerosis; cytokines; lipoproteins; reactive oxygen species; foam cell formation; lipogenesis; Nrf2
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Funding
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences [RO1 ES016959]
- National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute [HL30568]
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation [049595]
- American Heart Association [0665006Y]
- NATIONAL HEART, LUNG, AND BLOOD INSTITUTE [R01HL095154, P01HL030568, P01HL028481] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
- NATIONAL HUMAN GENOME RESEARCH INSTITUTE [T32HG002536] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
- NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES [R01ES016959] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
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Objective-To test the hypothesis that NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) expression plays an antiatherogenic role by its vascular antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Methods and Results-Nrf2 is an important transcription factor that regulates the expression of phase 2 detoxifying enzymes and antioxidant genes. Its expression in vascular cells appears to be an important factor in the protection against vascular oxidative stress and inflammation. We developed Nrf2 heterozygous (HET) and homozygous knockout (KO) mice on an apolipoprotein (apo) E-null background by sequential breeding, resulting in Nrf2(-/-), apoE(-/-) (KO), Nrf2(-/+), apoE(-/-) (HET) and Nrf2(+/+), and apoE(-/-) wild-type littermates. KO mice exhibited decreased levels of antioxidant genes with evidence of increased reactive oxygen species generation compared with wild-type controls. Surprisingly, KO males exhibited 47% and 53% reductions in the degree of aortic atherosclerosis compared with HET or wild-type littermates, respectively. Decreased atherosclerosis in KO mice correlated with lower plasma total cholesterol in a sex-dependent manner. KO mice also had a decreased hepatic cholesterol content and a lower expression of lipogenic genes, suggesting that hepatic lipogenesis could be reduced. In addition, KO mice exhibited atherosclerotic plaques characterized by a lesser macrophage component and decreased foam cell formation in an in vitro lipid-loading assay. This was associated with a lower rate of cholesterol influx, mediated in part by decreased expression of the scavenger receptor CD36. Conclusion-Nrf2 expression unexpectedly promotes atherosclerotic lesion formation in a sex-dependent manner, most likely by a combination of systemic metabolic and local vascular effects. (Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2011;31:58-66.)
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