Infectious agents that play a role in atherosclerosis and vasculopathies. What are they? What do we do about them?

Much of the published data suggest a link between herpes infection and atherosclerosis, as well as herpes infection and restenosis. Mechanistically, herpesvirus has been shown to promote inflammation, thrombin generation and platelet binding, and infected cells have been shown to be resistant to apoptosis. There is also good evidence of a link between Chlamydia pneumonias infection and atherosclerosis. In preliminary studies, antichlamydial antibiotic intervention has been shown to reduce significantly the incidence of cardiac events in patients with coronary artery disease and in myocardial infarction survivors.