health π¬ Heart disease starts before inflammation, study finds
A Cedars-Sinai Health Sciences University study identified molecular changes that kick off atherosclerosis years before inflammation occurs. Researchers analyzed coronary artery tissue from young adults who died from trauma, revealing over half had preclinical atherosclerosis. The findings, published in European Heart Journal, pinpointed pathways and the MLXIPL protein as potential new targets. This suggests cellular metabolism changes start before the classic inflammatory signals are present in the artery wall. Understanding these earliest changes is key to developing next-generation heart disease prevention therapies.