AUTHOR=Stahr Natalie , Galkina Elena V. 

TITLE=Immune Response at the Crossroads of Atherosclerosis and Alzheimer's Disease

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cardiovascular-medicine/articles/10.3389/fcvm.2022.870144

DOI=10.3389/fcvm.2022.870144

ISSN=2297-055X

ABSTRACT=Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and cardiovascular disease are pathologies that are characterized by common signatures of vascular dysfunction and chronic inflammation that are accelerated with ageing. Importantly, epidemiological studies report an independent interaction between AD and cardiovascular disease (CVD) and data suggest that chronic inflammation in CVD may accelerate AD development. Atherosclerosis affects most large to medium sized arteries including those supplying the cerebral circulation. Vascular dysfunction caused by atherosclerosis results in blood brain barrier breakdown, inflammation, an impaired clearance of amyloid-beta (Aβ), and finally ends up with neurovascular dysfunctions. Numerous data indicate that innate and adaptive immune responses shape atherogenesis and increasing evidence suggests an implication of the immune response in AD progression. Currently, mechanisms by which these two diseases are interconnected with each other are not well defined. In this review, we discuss the recent advances in our understanding of the intertwined role of the immune response in atherosclerosis and AD and the implications of these findings for human health.