Researchers have discovered new details about inflammation causing heart disease

High cholesterol and inflammation are key drivers of heart disease, and the inflammatory accumulation of lipids can cut off the blood supply to the coronary arteries, leading to heart attacks

"Patients with heart disease have more white blood cells," said senior author Matthias Nahrendorf, MD, a researcher at the MGH Center for Systems Biology and a professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School

Through experiments on human bone marrow and mice, Nahrendorf and his colleagues found that hypertension, atherosclerosis, and heart disease can all cause changes in the number of blood vessels in the bone marrow

Nahrendorf explained: "The result is that there are more white blood cells in the body.

Co-authors include MGH's David Rohde, MD, Katrien Vandoorne, and others

Funding for this study was provided by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute grant P01HL142494

"This study provides strong evidence that cardiovascular disease affects the bone marrow vascular system, which leads to blood stem cell activity," said Dr.

Article title

Bone marrow endothelial dysfunction promotes myeloid cell expansion in cardiovascular disease