Participation of Lysosomes in Atherosclerosis

A PROMINENT feature of atherosclerotic plaques is the presence of lipid. This lipid, mainly cholesterol and its esters, is observed intracellularly in early lesions, but extracellular deposition is increasingly evident as the plaque develops.¹ Epidemiologic studies have demonstrated that specific circulating lipoproteins are associated with susceptibility to, or protection from, cardiovascular disease.²³ Biochemical studies have explored the chemical and physical nature of the lipoproteins, their sites of synthesis and, perhaps most important, the steps that occur in the intravascular compartment and result in conversion of very-low-density lipoproteins, which are rich in triglyceride, to low-density lipoproteins, which are rich in esterified.