EMERGING CROSS-REGULATORY ROLES OF IMMUNITY AND AUTOIMMUNITY IN ATHEROSCLEROSIS

Atherosclerosis is a histopathological process of a multifactorial ori gin. Whereas the genetic and biochemical causes received considerable attention, the involvement of the immune system has generally been con sidered negligible. In recent years evidence has been presented to sup port the dominant role played by the immune system in atherosclerosis. Two major antigenic determinants against which the immune response ma y be triggered have been suggested, namely the heat shock protein 60/6 5 and oxidized low density lipoprotein. The current paper reviews the data regarding the involvement of the immune system in atherogenesis w ith respect to the antigenic candidates mentioned above.