Inflammation in atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease within the arterial wall that is responsible for several important adverse vascular events, including coronary artery disease, myocardial infraction, stroke and peripheral artery disease. Both innate and adaptive immunity play important roles in the development of atherosclerosis. In particular, monocytes/macrophages, which are the surrogate cells of innate immunity, have important proatherogenic effects. In addition, adaptive immune responses effected by T cells play important roles in atherosclerosis. While the T-helper cell type 1 (Th1) response has a potent proatherogenic effect, the pathogenic roles of other T cell subsets, such as the Th2 and Th17 pathways, remain controversial. However, the antiatherosclerotic protective roles of regulatory T cells and some Th2-related cytokines, such as interleukin-5, have been clearly established. In light of numerous data in animal models showing the importance of inflammatory cells in atherosclerosis and its complications, treatment of cardiovascular diseases with anti-inflammatory drugs may be an attractive strategy. However, future randomized placebo-controlled trials are required to test this possibility, to evaluate the proper effect of anti-inflammatory drugs as cardiovascular therapeutic agents without confounding effects.