Abstract

Dating back to the early 1900s, clinical observations have pointed towards an intimate relationship between dyslipidemia, inflammation, and endothelial dysfunction in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Despite a focus on aggressive lowering of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in patients at risk for developing cardiovascular disease, only moderate reductions in cardiovascular events have been achieved, suggesting other targets of therapy should be investigated. Over the past two decades pre-clinical and clinical data have demonstrated a direct correlation between inflammation and atheroma development. This review provides a detailed understanding of inflammation in atherogenesis with a particular emphasis on clinical studies correlating markers of inflammation with plaque progression using carotid intima-media thickness measurements and intravascular ultrasound.

Keywords: Atherosclerosis, inflammation, atherogenesis, soluble markers, intravascular ultrasound, carotid intima-media thickness.