Objective      To investigate the role of dendritic cells (DCs) in uremia-accelerated atherosclerosis mice.       Methods      Thirty 6-week-old male ApoE

-/-

mice were randomly divided into 3 groups: treatment group

uremia group

and atherosclerosis group (n=10). All the mice were fed with hig

h-fat diet. Another 10 male C57 mice at the same age under the same growing background were fed with normal diet and taken as the control group. All the mice received intervention measures for 12 weeks. Western blotting was used to detect mature DCs in the aorta

and flow cytometry was adopted to count mature DCs in the spleen. The peripheral blood IL-12p70 level was measured by ELISA.       Results      Compared with the atherosclerosis group

the uremia group showed increased atherosclerotic lesion area (P0.05)

larger numbers of mature DCs in the atherosclerotic lesion (P0.05)

reduced number of mature DCs in the spleen [CD11c: (3.06±0.07)% vs (5.04±0.13)%

CD83: (6.96±0.06)% vs (11.48±0.14)%

P0.05

]

and decreased IL-12p70 secretion in the peripheral blood (57.11±3.11 vs 116±8.72 ng/L

P0.05). Compared with the uremia group

the treatment group had decreased atherosclerotic lesion area (P0.05)

decreased number of mature DCs in the atherosclerotic lesion (P0.05)

decreased mature DCs in the spleen [CD11c: (1.22±0.02)% vs (3.06±0.07)%

CD83: (3.12±0.10)% vs (6.96±0.06)%

P0.05

]

and decreased IL-12p70 secretion in the peripheral blood (34.25±11.27 vs 57.11±3.11 ng/L

P0.05).       Conclusion      The number and activity of DCs are relevant with the uremia-accelerated atherosclerosis in ApoE-/- mice

and inhibiting maturation of DCs can significantly alleviate atherosclerosis.