**Atherosclerosis Mechanisms**

**Chapter 3**

**Provisional chapter**

**Inflammatory Mechanisms in Atherosclerosis**

possible therapeutic targets to combat atherosclerotic disease.

**Keywords:** inflammation, monocytes, macrophages, T cells, cholesterol

**Inflammatory Mechanisms in Atherosclerosis**

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.72222

Atherosclerosis is a disease of chronic inflammation, characterized by a dysfunctional interplay between the immune apparatus and lipids. Immune cells, as well as nonimmune cells, drive plaque inflammation through a complex crosstalk of inflammatory mediators. The cells are activated by risk factor–induced triggers, which are present in the circulation and in the vessel wall, such as shear stress, oxidized lipoproteins and oxidative stress. Without relief from risk factors, the activation of inflammatory processes persists, resulting in a chronic nonresolving inflammation. Inflammation is associated with severity of disease, and complex lesions, which are prone to rupture and cause acute events, are characterized by extensive inflammation. Thus, inflammation is an active driver of atherosclerotic plaque development and a risk factor for atherosclerotic events. It is therefore of utmost importance to understand the mechanisms behind these inflammatory processes and to be able to develop new diagnostics and treatment modalities for atherosclerotic disorders. This chapter provides a brief overview of the most important inflammatory players and processes during atherosclerotic plaque development and of

> © 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution,

© 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,

distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Atherosclerosis is a complex disease of the artery wall. It is the major cause of cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is the most common cause of death in the world, killing 17.5 million people each year [1]. Although previously thought of as a disorder of age and cholesterol, it is now commonly appreciated that atherosclerosis results from a complex interplay between inflammation and lipids. As early as in the nineteenth century, Rudolf Virchow described inflammation as an active driver of plaque development; however, the importance of these findings was not appreciated until over a century later. During this time, modern immunology

Ida Gregersen and Bente Halvorsen

Ida Gregersen and Bente Halvorsen

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.72222

**Abstract**

**1. Introduction**

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

**Provisional chapter**
