Department of Atherosclerosis

Main areas of research

• The investigating of genetic, cellular, immunological, and biochemical factors in the development of atherosclerosis.
• Improving the methods of diagnostics and treatment of dyslipidemia in patients of different age groups in the order to prevent the development of early coronary artery disease and other complications.
• Investigating of the features of the clinical course and treatment of coronary artery disease with common comorbid diseases (diabetes mellitus, peripheral atherosclerosis, bronchial asthma).

The most significant scientific results of research obtained in the last 4 years.

• For the first time in the Russian Federation, a complex study of myocardial perfusion was performed using the method of combined single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) with X-ray Computed Tomography (CT). The feasibility of using the method for referring a patient for coronary angiography and endovascular intervention has been shown. An integrated approach allows to evaluate the quantitative characteristics of perfusion changes in the myocardium.
• The data obtained showed that against the background of polychemotherapy, the left ventricular ejection fraction decreases, and the uneven perfusion of the left ventricular myocardium increases according to the SPECT of the myocardium.
• Cardioprotective therapy with beta-blockers and ACE inhibitors prevents a decrease in the parameters of contractile function and impaired left ventricular perfusion in patients receiving chemotherapy. In 69.2% of cases, there was an increase in the left ventricular ejection fraction by an average of 4±2%.
• Statin therapy during the year in patients with subclinical atherosclerosis of the brachiocephalic arteries showed that in patients who reached LDL cholesterol levels < 1.8 mmol/l, the atherosclerotic process stabilized, while patients with LDL cholesterol levels > 2.6 mmol/l, the process progressed. The results show benefit of aggressive lipid-lowering therapy in these patients.
• The relationship between the occurrence of restenosis in patients undergoing stenting of the coronary arteries with drug-eluting stents and the blood level of CD45+ platelets bearing leukocyte antigen on their surface is shown. In patients with a higher content of CD45+ platelets, restenosis was significantly more frequent. At the same time, the probability of developing restenosis with an increase in the level of CD45+ platelets were higher in patients with type 2 diabetes compared with patients without diabetes. These results make it possible to evaluate the level of CD45+ platelets as a marker of the risk of restenosis of stented coronary arteries.
• The study of oxidative stress in patients with CHD and type 2 diabetes showed its high activity in the combination of these two pathologies. Taking statins in high doses reduced the activity of oxidative stress.
• The identification of the features of the association between the level of Lp(a) and atherosclerosis of the carotid and peripheral arteries in patients with chronic concomitant diseases allowed us to identify patients who need targeted correction of this risk factor, which in many cases is underestimated by doctors. The level of lipoprotein (a) >30 mg/dl is closely associated with the degree of peripheral and coronary artery stenosis and is, along with LDL cholesterol, an additional marker for assessing the integral risk of CHD and a therapeutic target for the prevention of atherosclerosis.