Macrophages play an important role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, including the early pre-clinical stages of the disease development. We have explored the possibility that the disease onset could be associated with altered monocyte/macrophage response to activating pro- and anti-inflammatory stimuli. We evaluated the susceptibility of circulating monocytes from healthy individuals and patients with asymptomatic carotid atherosclerosis to M1 and M2 activation. The obtained data indicated the existence of a remarkable individual difference in susceptibility to activation among monocytes isolated from the blood of different subjects, regardless of the presence or absence of atherosclerosis. The identified differences in susceptibility to activation between monocytes may explain the individual peculiarities of the immune response in different subjects.

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