Anti–Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein-1/Monocyte Chemotactic and Activating Factor Antibody Inhibits Neointimal Hyperplasia in Injured Rat Carotid Arteries

Abstract—Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1)/monocyte chemotactic and activating factor (MCAF) has been suggested to promote atherogenesis. The effects of in vivo neutralization of MCP-1 in a rat model were examined in an effort to clarify the role of MCP-1 in the development of neointimal hyperplasia. Competitive polymerase chain reaction analysis revealed maximum MCP-1 mRNA expression at 4 hours after carotid arterial injury. Increased immunoreactivities of MCP-1 were also detected at 2 and 8 hours after injury. Either anti–MCP-1 antibody or nonimmunized goat IgG (10 mg/kg) was then administered every 12 hours to rats that had undergone carotid arterial injury. Treatment with 3 consecutive doses of anti–MCP-1 antibody within 24 hours (experiment 1) and every 12 hours for 5 days (experiment 2) significantly inhibited neointimal hyperplasia at day 14, resulting in a 27.8% reduction of the mean intima/media ratio (P<0.05) in experiment 1 and a 43.6% reduction (P<0.01) in experiment 2. This effect wa...