The endocannabinoid system: a new perspective for cardiometabolic risk control.

Mailing address: emilio Antonio Francischetti • Rua Paulo César de Andrade, 106/602 22221-090 Rio de Janeiro, RJ Brazil E-mail: [email protected] Received on 04/18/06 • Accepted on 07/14/06 The prevalence of many cardiovascular risk factors has been significantly reduced in the last forty years1. Therapeutic advance gained from lipid-lowering agents, anti-hypertensive drugs, and anti-diabetic oral agents have acted as invaluable tools to reduce the heavy burden imposed by cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors on public health. Despite this evidence, cardiovascular diseases still remain a major cause of death in many countries in the Western World whether due to inappropriate control of diseases such as diabetes mellitus and hypertension, and the smoking habit1, or by the emergence of new risk factors such as abdominal obesity2, reduced levels of HDL-C, hypertriglyceridemia and higher proportion of small and dense LDL particles3, all recognized to act as contributory elements for cardiovascular risk as a whole.