Jennifer Boles
Tanzania
Research Article
Arteriosclerosis: The Novel Finding of Biofilms and Innate Immune System Activity within the Plaques
Author(s): Herbert B Allen, Jennifer Boles, Diego Morales, Shefali Ballal and Suresh G JoshiHerbert B Allen, Jennifer Boles, Diego Morales, Shefali Ballal and Suresh G Joshi
Atherosclerosis (AS) is a chronic disorder characterized by the formation and progression of plaques within arteries. Various microbes, most notably periodontal organisms, have been identified in plaques both epidemiologically and microbiologically, and have been deemed possible contributors to the disease. In this work, we have queried whether microbes acted similarly in AS, when compared to other chronic diseases such as atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, and Alzheimer’s disease, by making biofilms to protect themselves and evade the immune system. In those diseases, the microbes created biofilms that activated the innate immune system reactant Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2).
We examined 12 endarterectomy specimens using probes similar to those used in our previous examinations of the above diseases. Specifically, we stained the pathology specimens with hematoxylin and eosin (H.. View More»
