ABSTRACT

Coronary artery atherosclerosis is the principle cause of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in North America (Yusuf et al., 2004; Rosamond et al., 2007). Atherosclerosis is a progressive degenerative disease which involves a chronic in—ammatory response and an accumulation of macrophages and LDL cholesterol in the walls of arteries. This results in the narrowing and stenosis of blood vessels. Atheromatous plaques develop in the subendothelial space of arteries and consist of soft, yellowish differentiated macrophages that have engulfed cholesterol and lipids, referred to as foam cells, and areas of cholesterol crystal formation and/or calci cation in advanced  brous plaques. Atherosclerosis induces two signi cant pathological processes: an ischemic event due to blood —ow obstruction and vascular contractile dysfunction.