ICAM-1 Expression in Endothelium of Human Arteries by Immunohistochemistry

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death in the world. Among them the ischemic type are of great importance. where the development of atherosclerotic plaques is the central pathophysiological process. The study of atherosclerosis is critical to understand how this disease process begins and factors influencing its development. Various laboratory methods, including immunohistochemistry, allow the recognition of cells and molecules involved in the atheromatous process that are interacting according to the progression of the lesion. A marker of endothelial dysfunction is the increased expression of intercellular adhesion molecule ICAM-1. In this paper, an immunohistochemistry method was standardized for the adhesion molecule ICAM-1, and its expression was studied in healthy human arteries with atheromatous plaque. In samples of human arteries with atherosclerotic disease, the expression of ICAM-1 was observed lobe increased, but was hardly recognizable. This mainly because the tissue used as a control for standardization was a tonsil with an inflammatory process and hyperplasia, which significantly increases the expression of ICAM-1. The implementation of the immunohistochemistry method for ICAM-1 in human arteries will reveal endothelial dysfunction states that will enable a future design and implementation of methods of diagnosis in atherosclerotic processes in the early stages.