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Int. Rev. Allergol. Clin. Immunol., 2008; Vol. 14, No. 3-4

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EDITORIAL

Immunology and atherosclerosis: the possible mechanisms
M. Dziekiewicz1, W. Kozlowski2, M. Maruszynski1
Military Institute of Health Services, Warsaw, Poland; 1Department of General, Oncological & Vascular Surgery, 2Department of Pathology

SUMMARY
Immunology and atherosclerosis: the possible mechanisms M.Dziekiewicz1, W. Kozlowski , M. Maruszynski
2 1

STRESZCZENIE
Immunologia a miażdżyca: możliwe mechanizmy M. Dziekiewicz1, W. Kozlowski2, M. Maruszynski1 Wojskowy Instytut Medyczny, Warszawa, 1 Klinika Chirurgii Ogólnej, Onkologicznej i Naczyniowej, 2Zakład Patologii Int. Rev. Allergol. Clin. Immunol., 2008; Vol. 14, No. 3-4

Military Institute of Health Services, Warsaw, Poland; 1Department ofGeneral, Oncological & Vascular Surgery, 2Department of Pathology Int. Rev. Allergol. Clin. Immunol., 2008; Vol. 14, No. 3-4

This paper reviews the current data on the pathology and mechanisms of the development of atherosclerosis in order to better understand the complexity of this process. This disease still causes many problems both for the patients, such as those suffering from theperipheral arteries disease (PAD), and for the physicians and investigators. Results of the multidisciplinary research clearly indicate that this process is much more complicated than we have hitherto learnt. A special role of immune mechanisms in the pathology of arteriosclerosis is being debated.

W pracy tej przedstawiono dane, zgromadzone na podstawie najnowszych doniesień, traktujące opatogonezie miażdżycy. Starano się przedstawić całą złożoność mechanizmów skutkujących rozwojem tej patologii. Miażdżyca nadal pozostaje nierozwiązanym problemem, nie tylko dla chorych cierpiących z powodu miażdżycowego niedokrwienia kończyn, ale również dla lekarzy i badaczy. Prześledzenie wyników badań naukowców wielu dyscyplin medycznych pozwala dostrzec jak wiedza na ten temat jest obszerna i o ilejest większa w porównaniu z poprzednimi dziesięcioleciami. Dociekając patogenezy miażdżycy przyszło badaczom przemierzyć również scieżki immunologii. Słowa kluczowe: immunologia, miażdżyca, komórki dendrytyczne

Key words: immunonology, atherosclerosis, dendritic cells

Atherosclerosis is a multifactorial pathology which begins in the childhood but manifests clinically later in the life. Eventhough a significant progress have been made in understanding of the mechanisms of the development of the disease, it still remains a serious problem not only for the patients suffering from its numerous variations (e.g., the peripheral arteries disease) but also for the physicians and investigators [1]. Recent results from various scientific centres shed new light on the pathophysiology of thedisease. The current definition of atherosclerosis has it that it is a systemic, focal, inflammatory, fibro-proliferative, prothrombotic, angiogenic disfunction of the arterial intima caused by retention of the modified, low-density lipoproteins in the course of the

hemodynamic and oxydative stress [2]. There is no doubt that atherosclerosis is a systemic, dysfunctional endothelial disease. Aswe now know, it should not be understood as a process resulting from a simple lipid deposition in the arterial wall associated with the endothelial damage. In fact, different facets of the same process are currently under investigation. For almost the whole of the last century, many investigators regarded lipid disturbances as the sine qua non of atherosclerosis. Over the last few decades, aplausible model linking lipids and inflammation to atherosclerosis has emerged. Appreciation of the role of inflammation in atherosclerosis has burgeoned. Substantial advances in the experimental research have pinpointed the role of inflammation and the

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M. Dziekiewicz, W. Kozlowski, M. Maruszynski: Immunology and atherosclerosis: the possible mechanisms

underlying cellular and molecular...