Macrovascular complications of diabetes in atherosclerosisprone mice

Abstract

The well-established relationship between diabetes and cardiovascular complications, combined with the rapidly increasing prevalence of diabetes, has created a pressing need for better understanding of the mechanisms of diabetic atherosclerosis. Multiple metabolic and diabetes-specific factors have been associated with accelerated atherosclerosis, including dyslipidemia, oxidative stress, inflammation, vascular cell dysfunction and coagulopathy. This discussion highlights selected studies in which researchers have employed mouse models of diabetic atherosclerosis in an attempt to examine these mechanisms and test potential therapeutic and preventative measures.

Keywords::

• atherosclerosis
• diabetes
• mouse model

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Avani Pendse, Heather Doherty, Xianwen Yi and José Arbones-Mainar for their valuable discussions, suggestions, comments and support. We also apologize to our colleagues for the omission of many important contributions due to article length limitations.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This work was supported by research grants HL087946 and HL042630.The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.