To the Editor: In their outstanding review, Sattar et al1 discussed the association between rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and accelerated atherogenesis mediated by systemic inflammatory response. We have recently described severe subclinical atherosclerotic findings in long-term actively treated RA patients (n 47) without clinically evident atherosclerosis or its complications.2 Sattar et al1 under...

Adipose tissue is a dynamic endocrine organ that secretes a number of factors that are increasingly recognized to contribute to systemic and vascular inflammation. Several of these factors, collectively referred to as adipokines, have now been shown regulate, directly or indirectly, a number of the processes that contribute to the development of atherosclerosis, including hypertension, endothel...

The development of atherosclerosis in very young chicks challenges the concept that atherogenesis depends upon senescence. Instead, the age period, rather than age, seems to be the more significant factor in atherogenesis. This is so since the regulation of the plasma cholesterol level is shown to vary at different age periods. During the first two months of life of the chick, a resistance to h...

Numerous inflammatory and innate immune pathways are involved in atherogenesis. Elaboration of clinical models of inflammation-induced atherogenesis may further advance our knowledge of multiple inflammatory pathways implicated in atherogenesis and provide a useful tool for cardiovascular prevention. Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is a chronic inflammatory disorder with profiles of inflamma...

In addition to low-density lipoproteins, plasma chylomicrons and very-low-density lipoproteins (VLDL) contribute to atherogenesis. When triglyceride-rich particles bind to arterial endothelium and to deendothelialized areas, locally present lipoprotein lipase initiates triglyceride hydrolysis and decreases the size of the adhering particles. Additional changes in composition are brought about b...

Platelets represent an important linkage between inflammation, thrombosis, and atherogenesis. Inflammation is characterized by interactions among platelets, leukocytes, and ECs. These interactions trigger autocrine and paracrine activation processes that lead to leukocyte recruitment into the vascular wall. Platelet-induced chronic inflammatory processes at the vascular wall result in developme...

For more than two decades, there has been continuing evidence of lipid oxidation playing a central role in atherogenesis. The oxidation hypothesis of atherogenesis has evolved to focus on specific pro-inflammatory oxidized phospholipids, which result from the oxidation of LDL phospholipids containing arachidonic acid, and which are recognized by the innate immune system in animals and humans. T...

Epidemiologic studies suggest a link between infection/inflammation and atherosclerosis. During the acute-phase response to infection and inflammation, cytokines induce tissue and plasma events that lead to changes in lipoprotein. Many of these changes are similar to those proposed to promote atherogenesis. The changes of lipoproteins during infection and inflammation are reviewed with a focus ...

There is accumulating evidence that LDL oxidation is essential for atherogenesis, and that antioxidants that prevent this oxidation may either slow down or prevent atherogenesis. In the present study, we found that Commiphora mukul and its cholesterol-lowering component, guggulsterone, effectively inhibited LDL oxidation mediated by either catalytic copper ions, free radicals generated with the...