Establishment of arteriosclerosis index related with leukocyte and platelet function measured by whole blood analysis method

在日本，由动脉硬化引起的心肌和脑梗塞的增加是一个重要问题，因为日本人口的老龄化速度比世界上任何其他国家都要快。最近，动脉硬化的病理被称为动脉壁的慢性炎症。然而，没有利用白细胞和血小板功能的动脉硬化指数，它们通过炎症反应诱导动脉硬化的进展。本研究通过对动脉硬化危险因素糖尿病、高脂血症和湍流血流模型中细胞功能的测定，探讨细胞功能是否可以作为动脉硬化的新指标。糖尿病和高脂血症患者单核细胞和粒细胞的吞噬活性均下调。此外，湍流血流选择性地增加了血小板-单核细胞复合物的形成。因此，这些功能变化将有助于通过早期干预来预防动脉硬化的进展。

Increase in myocardial and cerebral infarction caused by arteriosclerosis is an importantissue in Japan, since the Japanese population is aging faster than any other in the world.Recently, pathology of arteriosclerosis is known as chronic inflammation of an arterial wall.However, there is no arteriosclerosis index using the function of leukocyte and platelet,which induce the progression of arteriosclerosis via inflammatory responses. In this study,the cell functions were measured in the model of diabetes, hyperlipidemia and turbulentblood flow, which are risk factors for arteriosclerosis, to examine whether the cell functions can be used for a new index of arteriosclerosis. The phagoytic activity of monocyte andgranulocyte were down-regulated in the diabetes and hyperlipidemia. Furthermore, a platelet-monocyte complex formation was selectively increased by turbulent blood flow.Therefore, these functional changes will be useful for an index to prevent the progression ofarteriosclerosis by an early intervention.