Summary
Neutrophils, as part of the innate immune system, are classically described to be
main actors during the onset of inflammation enforcing rapid neutralisation and clearance
of pathogens. Besides their wellstudied role in acute inflammatory processes, recent
advances strongly indicate a so far underappreciated importance of neutrophils in
initiation and development of atherosclerosis. This review focuses on current findings
on the role of neutrophils in atherosclerosis. As pro-inflammatory mechanisms of neutrophils
have primarily been studied in the microvascular environment; we here aim at translating
these into the context of macrovascular inflammation in atherosclerosis. Since much
of the pro-inflammatory activities of neutrophils stem from instructing neighbouring
cell types, we highlight the promiscuous interplay between neutrophils and platelets,
monocytes, T lymphocytes, and dendritic cells and its possible relevance to atherosclerosis.
Keywords
Atherosclerosis - neutrophil - inflammation - recruitment