General Leung1, Alan R. Moody1
1Medical Imaging, Sunnybrook Health
Sciences Centre,
Carotid
plaque haemorrhage detected by magnetic resonance imaging appears to be
prognostic regarding plaque progression and patient outcome. It is accepted
that oxidative modification of low density lipoprotein (LDL) first causes
then drives plaque development. We demonstrate in vitro that the signal
hyperintensity caused by ferric haemoglobin, a major portion of intraplaque
haemorrhage detected by MRI, is associated with an environment that is a
potent oxidiser of LDL.
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