Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 May 24:16:2223-2239.
doi: 10.2147/JIR.S276982. eCollection 2023.

Insights into the Role of Inflammation in the Management of Atherosclerosis

Viviane Zorzanelli Rocha #  1   2 , Fabiana Hanna Rached #  1   3 , Marcio Hiroshi Miname #  1
Affiliations
Review

Insights into the Role of Inflammation in the Management of Atherosclerosis

Viviane Zorzanelli Rocha et al. J Inflamm Res. .

Abstract

Atherosclerosis is the biological basis of ischemic heart disease and ischemic stroke, the leading causes of death in the world. After decades of studies, the understanding of atherosclerosis has evolved dramatically, and inflammation has been recognized as one of the most relevant pillars in all phases of atherosclerotic disease. Nevertheless, only recently, the trial CANTOS, and subsequent outcome studies with colchicine, finally provided proof-of-concept evidence that anti-inflammatory therapies were able to reduce cardiovascular events with no influence on lipid levels. These landmark studies inaugurated an era of clinical and pre-clinical studies of immunomodulatory strategies focused on reduction of cardiovascular risk. Although there are promising results in the field, selection of the most appropriate immunomodulatory therapy and identification of patients who could benefit the most, are still enormous challenges. Further research is imperative before we can finally advance towards regular use of anti-inflammatory agents to reduce atherosclerotic events in our clinical practice.

Keywords: anti-inflammatory therapies; atherosclerosis; cardiovascular risk; inflammation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Dr Viviane Zorzanelli Rocha reports personal fees from Amgen, personal fees from Novartis, personal fees from NovoNordisk, personal fees from Astra Zeneca, personal fees from Aché, personal fees from GSK, personal fees from BIOLAB outside the submitted work. Dr Marcio Hiroshi Miname reports personal fees from NovoNordisk, personal fees from Aché, personal fees from Amgen, outside the submitted work. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Therapies targeting inflammation and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) prevention. This figure summarizes some of the main inflammatory targets for CVD prevention and their directed therapies: NLRP3 and microtubule polymerisation inhibitors, IL-1 and IL-6 blockade and TNF targeting.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. World Health Organization. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Fact Sheet. World Health Organ. 2021;42:207–216.
    1. Libby P, Buring JE, Badimon L, et al. Atherosclerosis. Nat Rev Dis Primers. 2019;5(1):56. doi: 10.1038/s41572-019-0106-z - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kaptoge S, Di Angelantonio E, Lowe G, et al.; Emerging Risk Factors C. C-reactive protein concentration and risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, and mortality: an individual participant meta-analysis. Lancet. 2010;375(9709):132–140. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bohula EA, Giugliano RP, Cannon CP, et al. Achievement of dual low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein targets more frequent with the addition of ezetimibe to simvastatin and associated with better outcomes in IMPROVE-IT. Circulation. 2015;132(13):1224–1233. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.115.018381 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ridker PM, Cannon CP, Morrow D, et al. C-reactive protein levels and outcomes after statin therapy. N Engl J Med. 2005;352(1):20–28. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa042378 - DOI - PubMed