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Immune-driven remodeling in calcific aortic valve disease: mechanisms and immunotherapeutic opportunities

Year: 2026
Type: review
Abstract: Calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) is a prevalent degenerative valvular disorder in the aging population, for which no pharmacological therapy has proven effective in halting or reversing disease progression. Over the past decade, CAVD has been increasingly recognized not as a passive degenerative process of calcium deposition, but as an active, inflammation-driven disease characterized by osteogenic remodeling. This process is initiated and sustained by endothelial injury, lipid retention, immune cell infiltration, and phenotypic transition of valvular interstitial cells. Growing evidence indicates that innate and adaptive immune responses may contribute to disease amplification. Innate immune cells propagate local inflammatory signaling through inflammasome activation, extracellular vesicle communication, protease release, and neutrophil extracellular trap formation, while adaptive immune cells further shape disease progression by sustaining cytokine networks that promote fibrosis and osteogenic reprogramming within the valvular microenvironment. Based on these mechanistic insights, this review further discusses emerging translational strategies aimed at targeting key pathogenic processes in CAVD, including modulation of inflammatory signaling, restoration of adaptive immune homeostasis, regulation of extracellular matrix remodeling and antifibrotic pathways, inhibition of VIC osteogenic differentiation, as well as development of patient stratification and local drug delivery approaches. Collectively, these strategies may provide a conceptual framework for earlier, non-surgical interventions for CAVD.
DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2026.1906690
Institution: Jianghan University
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,801
OpenAlex ID: W7222920186
FWCI:
Cites: 163
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Related to: 10