

The presence of different types of calcification in atheromatous plaques may open new perspectives in understanding the molecular mechanisms of atheroma formation and plaque instability.Ītherosclerosis Cardiovascular disease Energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis Hydroxyapatite Plaque calcification.Ĭopyright © 2017 The Italian Society of Diabetology, the Italian Society for the Study of Atherosclerosis, the Italian Society of Human Nutrition, and the Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Federico II University.

On the contrary, CO calcifications were mainly detected in stable plaques. Noteworthy, we observed an association between HA calcification and unstable plaques. Our results showed that calcification is a common finding in carotid plaques, being present in 77.3% of cases, and the amount of calcium is not a factor of vulnerability. The energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis allowed us to identify two types of calcium salts in the atheromatous plaques, hydroxyapatite (HA) and calcium oxalate (CO). No significant differences were found in the incidence of the various risk factors between patients with and without carotid calcification, with the exception of diabetes. Plaques were classified into two categories: unstable and stable. To this end, we characterized the calcification on 229 carotid plaques, by morphology, immunohistochemistry, transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis. In this study we investigated the relationship between the chemical composition of calcification and atherosclerotic plaque stability in carotid arteries. Recent studies highlighted the role of calcification processes in the clinical progression of chronic cardiovascular diseases. Electronic address: 10 Department of Experimental Medicine and Surgery, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy. Electronic address: 9 Vascular Surgery, Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy. Electronic address: 8 Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy Center for Atherosclerosis, Department of Medicine, Policlinico Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: 7 Department of Experimental Medicine and Surgery, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy. Electronic address: 6 Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy Center for Atherosclerosis, Department of Medicine, Policlinico Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy.

Electronic address: 5 Department of Experimental Medicine and Surgery, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy. Electronic address: 4 Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy Center for Atherosclerosis, Department of Medicine, Policlinico Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: 3 Department of Experimental Medicine and Surgery, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy. Electronic address: 2 Department of Experimental Medicine and Surgery, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy OrchideaLab S.r.l., Via del Grecale 6, Morlupo, Rome, Italy IRCCS San Raffaele Pisana, 00166 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: 1 Department of Experimental Medicine and Surgery, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy. 1 Department of Experimental Medicine and Surgery, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy.
