Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Cardiovascular diseases are defined by pathological problems in the heart, its blood vessels or the vascular system of the body. Cardiovascular diseases still represent one of the three common causes of death in Canada. High blood cholesterol is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases including atherosclerosis, which is characterized by the accumulation of cholesterol in the walls of cardiac arteries. Good cholesterol (HDL) is the carrier in the body whose role is to mobilize cholesterol from peripheral tissues, such as the arterial walls of the heart, to the bloodstream and then to the liver and intestines, for eventual elimination. Since epidemiological studies have established a parallel between the rise of HDL and a reduction of cardiovascular disease, research in recent years has mainly targeted the increase in HDL levels. Unfortunately, the results proved disappointing in preventing coronary heart disease. In a recently published study (Martel et al., JCI 2013), it was shown that to be effectively removed from the body, cholesterol accumulated in artery walls must necessarily pass through conduits called lymphatic vessels. HDL is transported from the walls of the arteries of the heart, through the lymphatic vessels, before going into the bloodstream. It has been shown that without the presence of lymphatic vessels, cholesterol cannot be effectively removed from the blood vessel wall, worsening consequently the atherosclerotic disease. Based on our preliminary studies, we now try to better delineate the functional defects in lymphatic transport, before onset, and during progression, of atherosclerosis. Our main objective is to identify preventive methods, as well as strategies for the potentiation of lymphatic function at various stages of disease, in hopes to ultimately promote regression of atherosclerotic disease and improve the health of Canadians.