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NDT Advance Access originally published online on April 16, 2007
Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation 2007 22(7):1823-1827; doi:10.1093/ndt/gfm112
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© The Author [2007]. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of ERA-EDTA. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Atherogenesis and inflammation—was Virchow right?

Heiko Methe and Michael Weis

Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik I, University Medical Center Munich-Grosshadern, Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich, Munich, Germany

Correspondence and offprint requests to: Michael Weis, MD, Medizinische Klinik I, University Hospital Munich-Grosshadern, 81377 Munich, Germany. Email: Michael.Weis@med.uni-muenchen.de

Keywords: atherosclerosis; immune system; innate immunity; adaptive immunity; dendritic cells; toll-like receptors

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Atherosclerosis is the most common pathological process leading to cardiovascular disease. The development of endothelial dysfunction, the earliest stage of atherosclerosis, involves genetic and haemodynamic factors as well as other acquired and modifiable risk factors, including smoking, hypercholesterolaemia, diabetes mellitus and hypertension. In addition, it has become clear that innate and adaptive immune systems are involved in the initiation and progression of atherogenesis [1,2].

Already during the 19th century, the pathologists C. von Rokitansky and R. Virchow described cellular inflammatory changes in the atherosclerotic vessel walls [3]. Whereas Virchow supported their primary role, von Rokitansky considered these changes secondary in nature (in response to fibrin-induced alterations) [3].

This article outlines the current knowledge of the role of the immune system in atherogenesis.



   Evidence that the immune system is involved in atherosclerosis
 
Several lines of evidence have been originated to link the immune system to the process of atherogenesis.

First, the presence . . . [Full Text of this Article]



   Innate immune response and atherosclerosis
 


   Adaptive immune response in atherogenesis
 


   Antigens implicated in initiation and progression of atherosclerosis
 


   Uraemia and atherogenic inflammation
 


   Summary
 

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