THE ROLE OF INFLAMMATION IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF ATHEROSCLEROSIS

Abstract

Despite advances in the field of diagnosis and treatment of patients with coronary heart disease, the incidence of cardiovascular complications remains quite high. The main factor in the development of ischemic diseases of the cardiovascular system is atherosclerosis. Over the past three years, research findings have been obtained indicating that atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease. It is widely accepted that both innate and adaptive immune responses are important for initiation and progression of atherosclerosis, which mainly consist of monocytes, macrophages, neutrophils, T lymphocytes, and B lymphocytes. Moreover, inflammatory biomarkers such as high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 are known to predict future cardiovascular events, as well as conventional low-density or high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Thus, current understanding of the inflammatory mechanisms of atherosclerosis have led us to explore novel therapeutic approaches that reducing vascular inflammation itself could lower the rates of critical cardiovascular events. In this review, we will first outline the mechanisms of atherosclerosis, especially focusing on their inflammatory aspects. Then we will introduce several critical inflammatory biomarkers that contribute to risk stratification of clinical cardiovascular events.