Evidence mapPaperPMID 40636823Full record

ArticleFrontiers in cardiovascular medicine2025

The relationships between inflammatory biomarkers, plaque characteristics, and macrophage clusters in coronary plaque: a quantitative assessment of macrophages based on optical coherence tomography.

Chunwei Liu, Fan Yang, Yuecheng Hu, Le Wang, Ximing Li, Hongliang Cong, Jingxia Zhang

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Article in Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

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0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Chunwei LiuDepartment of Cardiology, Tianjin Chest Hospital, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China.
Fan YangDepartment of Diagnostic Ultrasound, National Clinical Research Center of Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin, China.
Yuecheng HuDepartment of Cardiology, Tianjin Chest Hospital, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China.
Le WangDepartment of Cardiology, Tianjin Chest Hospital, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China.
Ximing LiDepartment of Cardiology, Tianjin Chest Hospital, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China.
Hongliang CongDepartment of Cardiology, Tianjin Chest Hospital, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China.
Jingxia ZhangDepartment of Cardiology, Tianjin Chest Hospital, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Quantitative assessment of macrophage accumulation is appealing in evaluating plaque inflammation. In optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging, local macrophage clusters may be a feasible marker for macrophage quantification. Methods: 404 patients presenting with acute coronary syndrome who underwent OCT evaluation were included. This study aims to assess the relationships between systemic inflammatory biomarkers [including monocytes, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and monocyte-to-HDL ratio (MHR)], plaque characteristics, and local macrophage clusters in coronary plaque. Results: Macrophage clusters were present in 218 patients, with a median arc value of 72° (50°-163°). Patients with macrophage clusters showed markedly higher levels of inflammatory biomarkers and plaque vulnerability. Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that MHR, lipid index, and microchannel were independently associated with the presence of macrophage clusters. The DeLong test showed the area under the curve of the above three combined indicators was significantly larger than that of single indicators (0.774 vs. 0.692, 0.665, 0.624, respectively, Conclusions: The macrophage cluster was a valuable index for quantifying local plaque inflammation. MHR, lipid index, and microchannel were independently associated with macrophage clusters. Large macrophage clusters were independently associated with high MHR and high lipid plaque burden.

Indexed as

high-density lipoprotein cholesterollipid indexmacrophage clustermonocytemonocyte-to-HDL ratio

Identifiers

PMID40636823
PMCPMC12238026

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.