Cannabinoid Receptor 2 Deficiency in Haematopoietic cells Aggravates Early Atherosclerosis in LDL Receptor Deficient Mice

Abstract Objective: The cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2) has been implicated to play a role in various inflammatory processes. Since atherosclerosis is currently considered a chronic inflammatory disease, we studied the effect of haematopoietic CB2 deficiency on atherosclerosis development. Methods and results: To investigate the effect of CB2 deficiency in immune cells on atherogenesis in vivo, a bone marrow transplantation was performed in irradiated LDL receptor deficient mice (LDLr-/-), using CB2 deficient (CB2-/-) or wildtype (WT) donor mice. After 12 weeks