Researchers at Leiden University show this in a new study, suggesting that treatment methods for autoimmune diseases could also be effective in preventing and treating cardiovascular diseases.
Autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS), rheumatism, and type 1 diabetes arise because the immune system attacks the body’s own proteins. Therefore, patients suffering from autoimmune diseases are often treated with drugs that suppress the immune system.
Recent clinical research shows that inhibition of inflammatory cells may also be effective in cardiovascular diseases, significantly reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Therefore, the Leiden researchers wondered if arteriosclerosis could also be an autoimmune disease.
In collaboration with UMC Utrecht, UMC Amsterdam and the HMC Westeinde hospital in The Hague, they analyzed inflammatory cells in the blood and arterial calcification tissue of patients undergoing carotid artery surgery. One type of immune cell was highlighted: the so-called helper T cell, which plays a central role in the development of autoimmune diseases.
This cell was remarkably active in tissue affected by arterial calcification. The cell resembled helper T cells from psoriatic arthritis patients like two peas in a pod. Therefore, it seems very likely that the same type of T cell that causes psoriatic arthritis also plays a role in the development of cardiovascular disease.
Helper T cells have long been known to play a deleterious role in autoimmune diseases, and for rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes, several therapies are already under development to eliminate these harmful T cells. The discovery that these cells are also involved in the development of arteriosclerosis also makes the development of such a therapy for cardiovascular disease attractive.
Identifying this is crucial. Only then can a treatment be developed that inactivates the T cells, without affecting the rest of the immune system.
The study was published in the journal Nature Cardiovascular Research.