title: [Etiology of atherosclerosis-- special reference to bacterial infection and viral infection].
abstract: Atherosclerosis is caused by multiple factors. Infectious disease has been proposed to be one of the causative factors, and several bacteria and viruses have been studied for their correlations with atherosclerotic diseases; these organisms include Chlamydia pneumoniae, Helicobacter pylori, HIV, CMV, HSV and hepatitis viruses. Many underlying mechanisms that infectious diseases cause atherosclerosis have been proposed; most of them suggested that inflammatory process provoked by infectious diseases led to atherosclerosis. Several clinical studies were also performed to examine whether treatment for infectious diseases could protect against atherosclerosis. However, the relationship between infectious diseases and atherosclerotic diseases and the effects of treatment for infectious diseases on atherosclerosis are still controversial; there are both positive and negative reports. Thus, further studies are needed to clarify the correlation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Metabolic Diseases, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo.
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kurano
authors.forename: Kazuhisa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsukamoto
mesh_terms: D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000209:etiology*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000150:complications*; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000150:complications; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000150:complications; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000150:complications; D016480:Helicobacter pylori; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000150:complications; D006561:Herpes Simplex / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D010518:Periodontitis / Q000150:complications / Q000382:microbiology; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000150:complications*