title: Vaccination for atherosclerosis.
abstract: Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease, and several antigens have been shown to activate the immune response and affect the development of atherogenesis. This suggests that modulation of the immune system could represent a useful approach to prevent and/or treat this disorder. A vaccination approach might be a useful, effective tool in the modern arsenal of cardiovascular therapy and could possibly be used on a large scale at a low cost. Several modalities of vaccines have been tested against lipoproteins, cholesterol, molecules involved in cholesterol metabolism, atherosclerosis-associated microorganisms, and other molecules (heat shock protein, CD99, vascular endothelial growth factor-receptor, interleukin-2), with promising results. Nevertheless, a deeper understanding of the role of immunization in atherosclerosis will be essential to the use of vaccines in clinical medicine.
authors: Rheumatology Division, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo e Hospital das Clinicas da Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors: Jozélio Freire
authors: JF
authors: de Carvalho
authors: Rosa Maria R
authors: RM
authors: Pereira
authors: Yehuda
authors: Y
authors: Shoenfeld
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D014612:Vaccines
chemical_list: D014612:Vaccines