[Infection as a risk factor in the atherosclerosis development: current concepts and treatment opportunities]

Recent publications on the ethiology and pathogenesis of atherosclerosis were analyzed. Certain infections, such as Ch. pneumoniae, cytomegalovirus and herpes simplex virus, are nowadays considered to be a risk factor for atherosclerosis development in future, and coincidence of multiple infections, "infectious burden", aggravates the disease prognosis. Numerous attempts of the use of antibiotics for treatment of patients with cardiovascular diseases were unsuccessful, presumably, due to inadequate treatment and targeting merely single infection (Ch. pneumoniae ). In general, a key point for the development of successful therapy approaches for the atherosclerosis treatment would be an appreciation of widespread occurrence, multifactorial and complex ethiology, as well as long-term and hidden pathogenesis of this disease. The authors believe that complex antibacterial and antiviral therapy will take an important place among the approaches for atherosclerosis therapy.