Description
The NHLBI and the Center for Anti-Inflammatory Therapeutics (CAT) at the Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM) jointly convened a workshop on September 7, 2010, in Boston, MA titled “3 Is (Infection, Immunity, Inflammation) and Atherothrombosis: Improving Patient Care.” The purpose of the workshop was:
- to assess what is known about the role of infection, immunity, inflammation and their interactions in the development and progression of atherothrombotic diseases;
- to review emerging technologies that may help shape the field in the future; and
- to identify research needs related to infection, immunity, and inflammation directed at improving prevention and treatment of atherothrombotic cardiovascular disease (ATCVD).
This conference was a public and private partnership to engage in an innovative and productive intellectual collaboration in identifying research priorities related to the 3 Is and atherothrombosis (AT) to speed up the development and adoption of new diagnostic, preventive, and treatment modalities into clinical practice for improving patient care.
The workshop was organized into three panels, each with a specific task:
- Panel 1: define the state-of-the-art in knowledge of inflammation and atherothrombosis
- Panel 2: define the state-of-the-art in knowledge of immunity and atherothrombosis
- Panel 3: define the state-of-the-art in knowledge of infection and atherothrombosis
It is currently estimated that about half of the population in the USA and Europe will die from ATCVD, which is poised to become the number one cause of death globally. Despite this enormous public health impact, our understanding and treatment strategies regarding ATCVD remain inadequate. These sobering facts make ATCVD a central research priority of the NHLBI. This workshop addressed the important roles that the 3 Is play in the initiation and progression of ATCVD. Its goal was to spur public and private interests in developing novel targeted therapies to reduce this public health burden. Multidisciplinary experts in the field reviewed the background data in areas of (1) inflammation and AT, (2) immune interactions in AT, (3) infection and AT, and 4) interplay of the 3 Is in AT. The workshop derived a consensus on the opportunities, and provided recommendations for research involving the 3Is in AT, its biomarkers, and therapeutic approaches that would target new signaling pathways and networks.