Chemokines as Therapeutic Targets in Cardiovascular Disease

Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2019 Apr;39(4):583-592. doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.118.312037.

Abstract

With the incidence and impact of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and its clinical manifestations still rising, therapeutic options that target the causal mechanisms of this disorder are highly desired. Since the CANTOS trial (Canakinumab Antiinflammatory Thrombosis Outcome Study) has demonstrated that lowering inflammation can be beneficial, focusing on mechanisms underlying inflammation, for example, leukocyte recruitment, is feasible. Being key orchestrators of leukocyte trafficking, chemokines have not lost their attractiveness as therapeutic targets, despite the difficult road to drug approval thus far. Still, innovative therapeutic approaches are being developed, paving the road towards the first chemokine-based therapeutic against inflammation. In this overview, recent developments for chemokines and for the chemokine-like factor MIF (macrophage migration inhibitory factor) will be discussed.

Keywords: atherosclerosis; bone marrow; cardiovascular disease; chemokines; myocardial infarction.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized / therapeutic use
  • Atherosclerosis / drug therapy
  • Atherosclerosis / metabolism
  • Atherosclerosis / physiopathology
  • Cardiovascular Diseases / drug therapy*
  • Cardiovascular Diseases / etiology
  • Cardiovascular Diseases / metabolism
  • Cardiovascular Diseases / physiopathology
  • Chemokines / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Chemokines / physiology
  • Chemotaxis, Leukocyte
  • Clinical Trials as Topic
  • Forecasting
  • Humans
  • Inflammation / complications
  • Inflammation / drug therapy
  • Intramolecular Oxidoreductases / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Intramolecular Oxidoreductases / physiology
  • Macrophage Migration-Inhibitory Factors / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Macrophage Migration-Inhibitory Factors / physiology
  • Molecular Targeted Therapy*
  • Multicenter Studies as Topic
  • Receptors, Chemokine / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Receptors, Chemokine / physiology
  • Therapies, Investigational / methods
  • Translational Research, Biomedical

Substances

  • Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized
  • Chemokines
  • Macrophage Migration-Inhibitory Factors
  • Receptors, Chemokine
  • canakinumab
  • Intramolecular Oxidoreductases
  • MIF protein, human