[Fundamental data on atherosclerosis]

Atherosclerosis, a disease of large arteries is the primary cause of heart disease and stroke and is the cause of 50% of all deaths in industrialized countries. Epidemiological studies have revealed several important environmental (smoking, sedentary life, feeding) and genetic risk factors associated with atherosclerosis. Knowledge on molecular and cellular causes of atherosclerosis have considerably progressed for 20 years. However, it is highly difficult to propose a valuable atherogenesis model because numerous molecular and cellular abnormalities interact together to induce atheroma. Nevertheless, over the past decade, transgenic animals gave interesting physiopathological models of atherogenesis and the opportunity to elaborate a pertinent theory of plaque formation. It is now demonstrated that atherosclerosis is not a simple chronic degenerescence of vascular wall, depending on age and other risk factors (dyslipidaemia, smoking, diabetes) but rather a chronic inflammatory disease, which induces plaque rupture and acute cardiovascular disease (myocardial infarction and stroke).