Anti-oxidants for the treatment and the prevention of atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerosis with its major clinical sequela, coronary heart disease (CHD), is the major cause of death in the industrialized world. The pathogenesis of atherosclerosis is a complicated disease process that is characterized by the accumulation of lipids, mainly cholesteryl esters, and by smooth-musclecell proliferation. Clinical studies have shown the importance of high levels of serum total cholesterol and of low-density lipoproteins (LDL) as being risk factors for CHD; low levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDL) are inversely related to the occurrence of the disease. Although cholesterol, LDL and HDL have been implicated as risk factors, the aetiology of atherogenesis and a detailed understanding of the cellular mechanisms underlying the disease process remain largely unknown. The hypotheses that have received the most attention are shown in Table 1.