BACKGROUND: Macrophage death in advanced lesion has been confirmed to play an 
important role in plaque instability. However, the mechanism underlying lesion 
macrophage death still remains largely unknown.
METHODS AND RESULTS: Immunohistochemistry showed that caspase-1 activated in 
advanced lesion and co-located with macrophages and TUNEL positive reaction. In 
in-vitro experiments showed that ox-LDL induced caspase-1 activation and this 
activation was required for ox-LDL induced macrophages lysis, IL-1β and IL-18 
production as well as DNA fragmentation. Mechanism experiments showed that CD36 
and NLRP3/caspase-1/pathway involved in ox-LDL induced macrophage pyroptosis.
CONCLUSION: Our study here identified a novel cell death, pyroptosis in ox-LDL 
induced human macrophage, which may be implicated in lesion macrophages death 
and play an important role in lesion instability.