Development of novel compounds for inhibition of pro-inflammatory C-reactive protein and investigation into shear-induced CRP dissociation

C-reactive protein (CRP) is a protein involved in the immune response during infection and inflammation. However, in cardiovascular diseases (CVD), especially myocardial infarction and stroke, CRP can induce overshooting inflammatory responses contributing to increased infarct size or even death. With the aim to create a drug to prevent CRP from triggering overshooting inflammatory reactions during CVD, in this thesis I tested two generations of small molecules designed to stop CRP pro-inflammatory effects. Moreover, we discovered that circulating blood exposed to high shear stress as in patients with stenosed heart valves or blood vessels stenosed by atherosclerosis, causes CRP to be strongly pro-inflammatory, subjecting those patients to higher risk of cardiovascular events.