In later life atherosclerotic plaques grow in blood vessel walls to narrow and weaken those vessels. When a plaque becomes unstable and ruptures, a downstream blockage can cause a heart attack or stroke. This and the slower harmful consequences of reduced blood flow via narrowed vessels makes atherosclerosis the largest cause of human mortality. Here, researchers provide evidence for long-lasting bacterial infection to be involved in the timing of plaque instability and rupture, particularly oral bacteria that have at some point entered the bloodstream. That said, at the point at which plaque is large enough to d…
The Role of Bacterial Infection in Atherosclerotic Plaque Rupture
In later life atherosclerotic plaques grow in blood vessel walls to narrow and weaken those vessels. When a plaque becomes unstable and ruptures, a downstream blockage can cause a heart attack or stroke. This and the slower harmful consequences of reduced blood flow via narrowed vessels makes atherosclerosis the largest cause of human mortality. Here, researchers provide evidence for long-lasting bacterial infection to be involved in the timing of plaque instability and rupture, particularly oral bacteria that have at some point entered the bloodstream. That said, at the point at which plaque is large enough to d…