L'athérosclérose, une maladie inflammatoire

First cause of mortality in the industrialized countries,atherosclerosis is a pathology of the large arteries whose etiopathology relies primarily on an abnormal high rate of LDL (low-density lipoprotein) in blood. In excess, LDL penetrate in the intima where they oxidize and initiate an inflammatory response of the vascular endothelium. This inflammatory response leads to the formation of local thickenings of the arterial wall in evolutionary matter. The atherosclerosis plaque is an advanced vascular rehandling characterized by a lipidic thrombogenic core surrounded by a fibrous cap. Under the effect of proteases secreted by the infiltrated macrophages, this plaque can break which allow the contact of blood with the lipid core, leading to the formation of a thrombus. This last is likely to cause a vascular occlusion whose consequences can be fatal. Diabetes, hypertension and hyper-homocysteinemia are additional risk factors which, associated to hypercholesterolemia, worsen the forecast of survival of this pathology.