Some immune cells help limit obesity and artery disease in mice
Male mice lacking a molecule-clearing protein in selected cells gained more weight than control littermates during 18 weeks on a high-fat diet.
Limit: The experiments were conducted only in male mice
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
Experiments in mice and isolated mouse cells examined how macrophages, immune cells that live in tissues, control endothelin-1, a molecule that affects blood vessels and promotes inflammation. In cells studied in the lab, one macrophage group removed endothelin-1 through the endothelin-B receptor, a protein that binds the molecule. Blocking this receptor reduced clearance.
Genetically removing the receptor from selected cells increased blood endothelin-1, suggesting impaired clearance. Male mice with this change gained more weight than control littermates during 18 weeks on a high-fat diet. They also had more fat around internal organs and worse inflammation associated with fat buildup in the liver. In a separate mouse model of atherosclerosis, the change increased fatty plaque size and the areas of dead tissue within plaques, independently of cholesterol levels or monocyte counts.
Why it matters
Atherosclerosis, the buildup of fatty plaques in arteries, is an age-related disease. The researchers identified this clearance pathway as a potential treatment target for cardiovascular and metabolic disease.
Caveats
The disease results came from mouse experiments, not studies of treatment in people. The conference abstract did not report sample sizes.
The paper
RWTH University Hospital Aachen; National University of Singapore
ESC Congress 2026 Abstract, Oct 26, 2026
Presented at ESC Congress 2026
