title: Atherosclerosis and infection: is the jury still not in?
abstract: Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory process accounting for increased cardiovascular and cerebrovascular morbidity and mortality. A wealth of recent data has implicated several infectious agents, mainly Chlamydophila pneumoniae, Helicobacter pylori, CMV and periodontal pathogens, in atherosclerosis. Thus, we sought to comprehensively review the available data on the topic, exploring in particular the pathogenetic mechanisms, and discuss anticipated future directions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece. dihi@med.auth.gr
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chatzidimitriou
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kirmizis
authors.forename: Eleni
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gavriilaki
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chatzidimitriou
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Malisiovas
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology*