Macrophage LXRα gene therapy ameliorates atherosclerosis as well as hypertriglyceridemia in LDLR-/- mice

Liver X receptors (LXRs) are implicated in the regulation of cholesterol homeostasis, inflammatory response and atherogenesis. Administration of LXR agonists inhibits the progress of atherosclerosis, and also increases plasma triglyceride levels, representing an obstacle to their use in treating this disease. The objective of this study was to develop an alternative approach that could overcome this obstacle. Eight-week-old low-density lipoprotein receptor-deficient (LDLR-/-)mice were transplanted with hematopoietic stem cell (HSC)-enriched bone marrow cells transduced with lentivectors expressing either green fluorescent protein (GFP) (Lenti-SP-GFP, control) or LXR alpha (Lenti-SP-LXR alpha) driven by a synthetic macrophage promoter. At 4 weeks post-transplant, the mice were fed with a Western diet for 8 weeks and then killed. Compared with Lenti-SP-GFP mice, the Lenti-SP-LXR alpha mice had a 30% reduction in atherosclerotic lesions, which was accompanied by increases in levels of macrophage expression of cholesterol efflux genes apolipoprotein E and ATP-binding cassette A1, as well as decreases in plasma inflammatory cytokines interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha. Intriguingly, a 50% reduction of plasma triglyceride level was also observed. We conclude that HSC-based macrophage LXR alpha gene therapy ameliorates the development of atherosclerosis along with an unexpected concomitant reduction of plasma triglyceride levels in LDLR-/- mice. These findings highlight the potential value of macrophage LXR expression as an avenue for therapeutic intervention against atherosclerosis. Gene Therapy (2011) 18, 835-841; doi:10.1038/gt.2011.29; published online 10 March 2011