Atherosclerosis is a condition in which artery walls thicken as the result of a build-up of fatty materials such as cholesterol. Atherosclerosis is now considered a specific form of a chronic inflammatory process resulting from interactions between plasma lipoproteins, cells [monocytes/macrophages, endothelial cells (EC), smooth muscle cells (SMC) and T-lymphocytes], and the extracellular matrix of the arterial wall. Atherogenic lipoproteins such as oxidized-LDL, VLDL and Lp(a) play an initiating role in this disease by up-regulating adhesion molecules such as ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 on endothelial cell surfaces. This allows the adhesion of monocytes to ECs. Monocytes migrate into the intima of the blood vessel where they differentiate into macrophages under the influence of M-CSF...