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Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (heart attacks and strokes) is the major cause of death globally and is caused by the buildup of a plaque in the arterial wall. Genomic data showed that the B cell–activating factor (BAFF) receptor pathway, which is specifically essential for the survival of conventional B lymphocytes (B-2 cells), is a key driver of coronary heart disease. Deletion or antibody-mediated blockade of BAFF receptor ablates B-2 cells and decreases experimental atherosclerosis. Anti-BAFF immunotherapy is approved for treatment of autoimmune systemic lupus erythematosus, and can therefore be expected to limit their associated cardiovascular risk. However, direct effects of anti-BAFF immunotherapy on atherosclerosis remain unknown.

To investigate the effect of BAFF neutralization in atherosclerosis, the authors treated Apoe^−/− and Ldlr^−/− mice with a well-characterized …