When a person develops a sore or a boil, it erupts, drawing to it immune system cells that fight the infection. Then it resolves and flattens into the skin, often leaving behind a mark or a scar.
A similar scenario plays out in the blood vessels. However, when there is a defect in the resolution response -- the ability of blood vessels to recover from inflammation -- atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries can result, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and Harvard Medical School in Boston in a report that appears online June 18 in The Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. The major factor in this disease is a deficiency in the chemical signals that encourage resolution (pro-resolution signals). These signals are produced in the blood vessel where the inflammation occurs, the researchers said.
Chronic inflammation of the artery wall can cause atherosclerosis, a major risk factor for heart disease and heart attack.
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