Are macrophages associated with lipid-rich carotid artery plaques , echolucency on B-mode imaging , and elevated plasma lipid levels?
Increased macrophage density in carotid atherosclerotic plaques was associated with lipid content, plaque echolucency, and increased plasma and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. Furthermore, use of aspirin was associated with reduced macrophage density in carotid artery plaques.
These results show that targeting and down regulation of MMP-9 by AM9D could prove useful as a therapy against breast carcinoma tumor growth and invasion.