Vein graft surgery to treat occlusive arterial disease is a common applied procedure. Each year more than two million vein graft surgeries are performed worldwide. The major drawback of vein... Show moreVein graft surgery to treat occlusive arterial disease is a common applied procedure. Each year more than two million vein graft surgeries are performed worldwide. The major drawback of vein grafting is that within 10 years after vein graft surgery 50-60 % of the vein grafts suffer from patency loss due to thrombosis, intimal hyperplasia formation, accelerated atherosclerosis and rupture. Endogenous factors orchestrate the development and failure of vein grafts. Investigating the role of endogenous constituents on vein graft remodeling can enhance our basic knowledge of the involvement of these factors in vein graft remodeling. By interfering in the function of endogenous factors, as we showed in this thesis, vein graft remodeling can be negatively or positively influenced depending on the factor and strategy used. New therapeutic strategies can be developed based on this knowledge. In this thesis we investigate the role of innate immune components, complement system factors, toll like receptors, mast cells and NK cells and the role of Annexin A5 in vein graft remodeling. Furthermore we explored the role of plaque stability, plaque neovascularization and extracellular matrix remodeling in a hypercholersterolemic mouse vein graft model. Show less
