Abstract

Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of death in the Western World and has been for decades a field of intense research. Yet, while there is a rich and diverse literature describing in detail the players and mechanisms involved in this complex disease in cell and animal models, we remain today with virtually no reliable markers for early diagnosis and targeted treatments options. This review is centered upon the latter. We summarize the latest studies focused on detecting endothelial dysfunction during the early stages of atherosclerosis, when the disease is asymptomatic and describe strategies recently proposed to image and target advanced plaque.

Keywords: Atherosclerosis, biomarkers, endothelial cells, receptors, early diagnosis, direct targeting.