Articles |
From the Division of Cardiology, Kumamoto University School of Medicine (K.K., H.O., H.Y.); the Second Department of Pathology, Kumamoto University School of Medicine (M.T., K.T.); Division of Cardiology, Kumamoto Chuo Hospital (T.S.); the Division of Cardiology, Saiseikai Kumamoto Hospital (K.H., K.H.), Kumamoto; the Division of Cardiology, Shizuoka City Hospital (A.T.), Shizuoka; The Chemo-Sero-Therapeutic Research Institute (Y.K.), Kumamoto; and the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University (S.N.), Inuyama, Japan.
Correspondence to Hisao Ogawa, MD, Division of Cardiology, Kumamoto University School of Medicine, 1-1-1 Honjo, Kumamoto City 860, Japan. E-mail: ogawah{at}kumamoto-u.ac.jp.
| Abstract |
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Key Words: immunostaining tissue factor unstable angina macrophages thrombosis
| Introduction |
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On the other hand, the plaque rupture is closely implicated in the soft extracellular lipids and macrophages contained in the plaques.7 8 9 10 The infiltration area of macrophages in directional coronary atherectomy (DCA) specimens has recently been shown to be larger in patients with acute coronary syndromes than in those with stable angina,11 and the macrophages to be predominant cells at the immediate site of either rupture or superficial erosion of the fibrous cap in patients with acute myocardial infarction.8 In vitro study has shown that cultured and activated monocytes expressed high levels of tissue factor antigen in patients with unstable angina,12 and circulating monocytes also showed increased tissue factor expression in the patients with acute coronary syndromes.13 However, it is not clear whether macrophages express tissue factor in human coronary atherosclerotic plaques in patients with unstable angina.
The purpose of the present study is to determine whether macrophages express tissue factor in human coronary atherosclerotic plaques. We examined which cell types express tissue factor in DCA specimens in the patients with unstable angina and in those with stable exertional angina by using an immunohistochemical double staining method.
| Methods |
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Tissue Preparation
The atherectomy specimens were fixed in 10% buffered neutral
formalin and embedded in paraffin. Some specimens were fixed in a 2%
periodate-lysine-paraformaldehyde fixative for 4 hours,
washed with phosphate buffered saline (PBS), and frozen in liquid
nitrogen to make frozen sections.
Antibodies
For immunohistochemistry, the following monoclonal antibodies
were used: HTF-K10814 (anti-tissue factor), KP-1
(anti-macrophage, CD68, DAKO, Glostrup, Denmark),
HHF3515 (anti-smooth muscle actin, DAKO), and
E816 (anti-fibrin, IMMUNOTECH S.A., Marseille).
Immunohistochemistry
Deparaffinized and frozen sections were
immunostained using the indirect immunoperoxidase method.
After the inhibition of endogenous peroxidase activity
according to the method of Isobe et al,17 the sections
were stained with one of the antibodies described above. Then the
sections were reacted with peroxidase-labeled antimouse immunoglobulin
[F(ab')2] (1:100 dilution; Amersham, Amersham, United
Kingdom).18 Peroxidase activity was visualized using
3,3'-diaminobenzidine (Sigma) as substrate. After
immunostaining, the slides were lightly counterstained
with hematoxylin. For controls, the tissues were incubated with
nonimmunized mouse serum or PBS instead of specific antibodies and were
processed by the same procedure. In immunostaining for
macrophages, deparaffinized sections were treated in freshly
prepared 0.1% trypsin solution at 37°C for 30 minutes and
rinsed well in PBS before immunostaining.
Immunohistochemical Double Staining
To identify which cell types express tissue factor,
immunohistochemical double staining was performed using the anti-tissue
factor (HTF-K108) and one of the antibodies against macrophages
(KP-1) or smooth muscle cells (HHF35). In the first step, sections were
stained with HTF-K108. After the visualization of peroxidase activity
localization with 3,3'-diaminobenzidine as substrate to give a brown
color, the sections were rinsed with 0.1 mol/L glycine-HCL
buffer (pH 2.2) for 30 minutes to remove the first and second
antibodies reacted. In the second step, the same sections were
incubated with KP-1 or HHF35 at room temperature for 2 hours. After
washing with PBS, the sections were treated with alkaline phosphatase
antialkaline phosphatase (APAAP) method using APAAP Kit (DAKO).
Alkaline phosphatase activity was visualized using naphthol AS-MX
phosphate and fast blue BB salt to give a blue color. To confirm the
specificity of the immunoreactivity, control stainings were performed
in the same way using nonimmunized mouse serum or PBS instead of
specific antibodies in the first or second step or both.
Immunostaining was judged independently by two
different observers (K.K., M.T.) without knowledge of the clinical
status, and the results were given as positive or negative.
Quantification of Macrophage Infiltration
Each section stained with the antihuman panmacrophage
monoclonal antibody KP-1 was photographed. The lesions of
macrophage infiltration were manually traced in the
photographs, and the area was calculated using an NIH-image version
1.55, a public domain image processing and analysis program by
Macintosh. Values for macrophage infiltration area and total
specimen area are given as mean±SEM and the two-tailed unpaired
Student's t test was used in the analysis of each
parameter. The chi square test was used to compare the
frequency of the positive immunostaining for
macrophages, smooth muscle cells, and tissue factor expression,
and the frequency of the thrombus in the sections. Probability levels
of less than 0.05 were considered to be statistically significant.
| Results |
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The area of macrophage infiltration in the sections from the
patients with unstable angina was larger than that of stable exertional
angina (Fig 1A
and B). Table 2
shows the percentage of
macrophage infiltration area (macrophage infiltration
area/total specimen area) in DCA specimens in the two groups. Total
area of the sections of each patient in each group was more than
1.0 mm2, and the mean values are 3.82±0.28
mm2 for each patient with unstable angina and
3.18±0.31 mm2 for each patient with stable exertional
angina. The percentage of macrophage infiltration area was
significantly larger in the patients with unstable angina than in those
with stable exertional angina (17±3% versus 6±2%,
P=.008).
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Tissue factor was observed on both macrophages and smooth
muscle cells and was also detected extracellularly in the thrombus. To
confirm the cellular localization of tissue factor, immunohistochemical
double staining (Fig 1C
-H) and consecutive
immunostaining using serial sections (Fig 2A
-E) were performed. In Fig 1C
and F,
tissue factor is positive on KP-1 positive macrophages in a
section obtained from a patient with unstable angina. The staining
pattern of tissue factor in the serial sections (Fig 2A
) indicated its
localization on the macrophages (compare Fig 2A
, B, and D) and
smooth muscle cells (compare Fig 2A
, C, and E). Table 3
shows the cell types associated with
tissue factor expression by immunohistochemical double staining. Tissue
factor expression on macrophages was more frequently observed
in the group of unstable angina than that of stable exertional angina,
via, 18 (75%) of 24 patients with unstable angina versus 3 (13%) of
23 with stable exertional angina (P<.0001). On the other
hand, there was no significant difference in the expression on smooth
muscle cells between these groups.
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To depict the increased thrombogenicity of the DCA specimens in the
patients with unstable angina, we examined fibrin deposition in the DCA
specimens in the two groups. In addition to expected fibrin deposition
in the thrombus in both groups (data not shown), fibrin deposition was
also observed around tissue factor-positive macrophages in the
patients with unstable angina (Fig 2F
and G). On the other hand, the
fibrin deposition was not observed around tissue factorpositive
smooth muscle cells in both groups (data not shown).
| Discussion |
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The plaque rupture is closely associated with the soft extracellular lipids,7 macrophages,8 9 10 matrix-degrading proteases9 10 32 33 such as interstitial collagenase (matrix metalloproteinase-1), which degrades two major plaque structural proteins, type I and III collagen, and activated mast cells in the shoulder region of the atherosclerotic plaques.34 35 Van der Wal et al8 have reported that the macrophages were the predominant cells at the immediate site of either rupture or superficial erosion of the fibrous cap that contained few smooth muscle cells. However, it is not clear whether the macrophages express tissue factor in vulnerable human coronary atherosclerotic plaques in patients with unstable angina.
In the present study, the frequency of macrophage infiltration and the percentage of macrophage infiltration area in DCA specimens were higher in the patients with unstable angina than in those with stable exertional angina. These findings are consistent with the previous report by Moreno et al.11 The frequency of tissue factorpositive macrophages as demonstrated by the immunohistochemical double staining was also higher in the patients with unstable angina than in those with stable exertional angina. The expression of tissue factor on the macrophages seemed to be related to the degree of the macrophage infiltration in the sections. Consequently, the fibrin deposition was mainly observed around massive infiltration of the tissue factorpositive macrophages in the patients with unstable angina and was not observed around tissue factorpositive smooth muscle cells in both groups. Imamura et al14 have reported that fibrin deposition was restricted to the area around tissue factorpositive macrophages in a model of delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction, suggesting that thrombin activity and fibrin deposition are generated through the activation of blood coagulation initiated by tissue factor on the macrophages. Our present findings also indicate that the tissue factorpositive macrophages rather than the tissue factorpositive smooth muscle cells may be associated with the thrombogenicity in the coronary atherosclerotic plaques in the patients with unstable angina.
The exposure of several components in human atherosclerotic plaques, including collagen and lipids, are considered important in the thrombus formation. Ex vivo studies have demonstrated that the exposure of collagen type I of the vessel wall led to extensive platelet deposition and thrombosis on the surface,36 and that the atheromatous core of human atherosclerotic plaques was associated with the greatest platelet deposition and largest thrombus formation compared with other components of human atherosclerotic lesions.3 Fernández-Ortiz et al3 explained that the thrombogenic properties of the atheromatous core could be attributed to one or more of its constituents, such as the crystaline lipids, soft lipids, phospholipids, or tissue factor.
In several autopsy analyses, asymptomatic coronary disrupted plaques were observed in subjects who died suddenly by noncardiac causes and some patients with diabetes mellitus or hypertension,37 and many patients who died of ischemic heart disease had both thrombosed and nonthrombosed disrupted plaques in their coronary arteries.38 39 40 We speculate that the possibility of whether the thrombus is formed or not after the plaque disruption may be closely associated with tissue factor contained in the preexisting coronary atherosclerotic lesion.
In conclusion, by using the immunohistochemical double staining method we have shown that the expression of tissue factor on macrophages was more frequent in the coronary atherosclerotic plaques in the patients with unstable angina. The present findings suggest that tissue factor expressed on the macrophages plays an important role in the thrombogenicity in the coronary atherosclerotic plaques of these patients.
| Acknowledgments |
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Received December 31, 1996; accepted April 23, 1997.
| References |
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