Treating atherosclerosis as an autoimmune inflammatory disease

Atherosclerosis is a disease characterized by plaque formation in an artery in response to inflammation in the lining (endothelium) of the vessel. It is referred to also as vulnerable plaque because it is subject to rupture followed by the blocking of a smaller downstream artery, the immediate cause of most heart attacks and strokes. A paper recently published in Immunology Letters discusses the treatment of the vascular inflammation of atherosclerosis as an autoimmune inflammatory disorder.