Interleukin (IL)-33 is associated with vascular restenosis after carotid artery balloon injury. This work aims to investigate the involvement of IL-33 in carotid artery balloon injury. We first constructed carotid artery balloon injury model in male Wistar rats. Then, we found that IL-33 was highly expressed in the rats with carotid artery balloon injury 3, 14 and 21 days after surgery. Furthermore, IL-33 treatment promoted inflammatory response and carotid artery intimal hyperplasia in the rats with carotid artery balloon injury, which was effectively improved by anti-IL-33 treatment. In addition, IL-33 treatment enhanced proliferation, migration, inflammatory response and tube formation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells in a concentration-dependent way. In summary, our study demonstrates that IL-33 treatment promotes the progression of vascular restenosis after carotid artery balloon injury by enhancing carotid artery intimal hyperplasia and inflammatory response. Thus, our findings suggest that IL-33 maybe a valuable target for carotid artery balloon injury therapies.
Keywords: IL-33; carotid artery balloon injury; inflammatory response; intimal hyperplasia.
© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.