Overexpression of Caspase-1 in Aorta of Patients with Coronary Atherosclerosis

Objectives Plenty of studies on animals suggest the involvement of caspase-1 in the development of atherosclerosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the changes of caspase-1 in the aorta of patients with coronary atherosclerosis and its association with atherosclerotic risk factors. Methods We collected button-sized aortic tissues from patients (n = 48) undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. Renal arterial tissues from 18 kidney donors without atherosclerosis were taken as control. The expression of caspase-1 was determined by immunohistochemistry, and Gensini score was used to evaluate the severity of coronary atherosclerosis. Results Caspase-1 was strongly expressed in aortas from CABG patients. Spearman correlation revealed that the aortic caspase-1 expression was significantly correlated with coronary severity scores (r = 0.656, P < 0.05). The relative level of aortic caspase-1 expression was elevated in patients who were smokers or with hypertension or diabetes. The caspase-1 expression was positively correlated with total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, and lipoprotein(a) (P < 0.05); but negatively correlated with high density lipoprotein cholesterol (P < 0.05). Conclusions Our findings demonstrate a highly expressed caspase-1 in aortas from patients with coronary atherosclerosis, and that modulation of caspase-1 could be a potential target for prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis.