Hallmarks of atherosclerotic lesion development with special reference to immune inflammatory mechanisms

Atherosclerosis is a complex disease that starts during childhood and becomes clinically evident later in life. Atherosclerosis results from an interaction between diverse factors including lipid metabolism, blood coagulation elements, cytokines and hemodynamic stress. Humoral and cellular immune reactions are key events in pathogenesis with the balance between pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory stimuli being crucial for the development of atherosclerotic lesions. Atherosclerotic lesions are characterised by the presence of immune competent cells including T-cells and dendritic cells. Dendritic cell interactions with T-cells might be responsible for T-cell activation in atherogenesis. Despite increasing acknowledgment that immune-inflammatory processes participate in atherogenesis, the immune mechanisms remain incompletely defined.