image: Macrophages are cells of the immune system that play important roles in defense against invasion of infectious agents. However, in experimental rats with a disease of high blood pressure in the heart and lungs (called pulmonary hypertension), macrophages accumulate around blood vessels in the lung, and produce a toxin called leukotriene B4 (LTB4). Animals with pulmonary hypertension show an accumulation of pulmonary macrophages and high LTB4 levels. This image relates to a paper that appeared in the Aug. 28, 2013, issue of Science Translational Medicine, published by AAAS. The paper, by W. Tian at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., and colleagues was titled, "Blocking Macrophage Leukotriene B4 Prevents Endothelial Injury and Reverses Pulmonary Hypertension." view more
Credit: Image courtesy of <i>Science Translational Medicine</i>/AAAS