Reduced Immunoregulatory CD31+ T Cells in the Blood of Atherosclerotic Mice With Plaque Thrombosis

OBJECTIVE—Lymphocyte activation is thought to play a major role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerotic complications such as plaque thrombosis. Circulating CD31 T cells have been shown to regulate human T cell activation. Aim of this study was to evaluate whether the proportion of circulating immunoregulatory CD31 T cells is correlated to the occurrence of plaque thrombosis in aged apolipoprotein (apo) E knockout (KO) mice. METHODS AND RESULTS—CD31 T cell depletion of spleen T cells enhanced proliferation (P