Establishment of Prevention and Treatment for Development of Atherosclerosis by regulation of Lipocalin-Type Prostaglandin D Synthase

脂钙素型前列腺素（PG） D合成酶（L-PGDS）负责PGD2的生物合成，最近发现存在于人冠状动脉粥样硬化斑块中，也可在人血清中检测到。L-PGDS是催化PGD2合成的酶之一，因此我们推测L-PGDS介导的PGD2合成与动脉粥样硬化的发病机制有关。考虑到L-PGDS在冠状动脉疾病病理生理中的作用，提示在动脉粥样硬化斑块中生成L-PGDS具有抗动脉粥样硬化作用。此外，我们观察了L-PGDS的免疫反应性和mRNA表达，证实了L-PGDS明确定位并产生于动脉粥样硬化斑块中，特别是在人和猴冠状动脉斑块中。主要发现是冠状动脉疾病患者血清L-PGDS水平升高，且升高与受影响血管的数量有关（Teruo inoue, Yutaka Eguchi, Tetsuya Matsumoto， Yoshihiro Urade等）。脂钙素型前列腺素D合成酶是冠状动脉疾病严重程度的有力生物标志物。血清L-PGDS水平可作为评价冠心病严重程度的指标。因此，血清L-PGDS的测定可作为冠状动脉造影前筛查冠状动脉疾病的一种策略。

Lipocalin-type prostaglandin (PG) D synthase (L-PGDS), which is responsible for the biosynthesis of PGD2, has recently been found to be present in the atherosclerotic plaque of the human coronary artery and also to be detectable in human serum. L-PGDS is one of the enzymes that catalyze PGD2 synthesis, and so we speculate that PGD2 synthesis mediated by L-PGDS is related to pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Considering the roles of L-PGDS in the pathophysiology of coronary artery disease, it is suggested that L-PGDS generation in the atherosclerotic plaques has an anti-atherogenic effect. Furthermore, we observed the immunoreactivity and mRNA expression of L-PGDS to confirm that L-PGDS was definitely localized and generated in atherosclerotic plaques, especially in these in the human and monkey coronary artery.The major findings are that serum L-PGDS level was elevated in patients with coronary artery disease and that the level increased in association with the number of affected vessels (Teruo inoue, Yutaka Eguchi, Tetsuya Matsumoto, Yoshihiro Urade et al. Lipocalin-type prostaglandin D synthase is a powerful biomarker for severity of coronary artery disease, submitted). The serum L-PGDS level may be suitable to evaluate the severity of coronary artery disease. It is concluded that the measurement of serum L-PGDS can be a strategy for screening of coronary artery disease prior to coronary angiography.