**6. Medical relevance**

Increasing number of studies suggest the role of oxidized phospholipids in development of atherosclerosis by interacting with specific receptors as well as through their reactive groups that can bind covalently to proteins, forming lipid-protein adducts that become dysfunctional. It is a challenge to determine if therapeutic inhibition of the OxPLs interaction with vessel wall cells can inhibit atherosclerosis. Also it will be interesting to identify the lipid oxidation products that activate each response in the various cell types and the receptors or binding molecules and signal transduction pathways activated by these lipids.

Pro-inflammatory oxidized phospholipids are significant predictors of the presence of carotid and femoral atherosclerosis, development of new lesions and increased risk of cardiovascular events (Ashraf et al 2009). Hence oxidized phospholipids could serve as biomarker for diagnosis of coronary artery disease and they could also be used as potential targets for therapeutic intervention.
