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2004, Number s2

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Arch Cardiol Mex 2004; 74 (s2)

Immunology and infection in atherosclerosis

Gurfinkel EP

Language: Spanish
References: 19
Page: 418-422
PDF size: 55.09 Kb.


ABSTRACT

At the turn of the century, infection was the leading cause of death in the world. Advances in sanitation and the introduction of antibiotics dramatically decreased the death toll of pneumonia, tuberculosis, and diarrhea diseases and heralded what was then considered the beginning of the end of the war against infection. As life expectancy lengthened, medical research turned away from infection and concentrated on the study of pathophysiology to battle the new scourges of the modern world-atherosclerosis and cancer. Research in the second half of this century led to the discoveries of hormonal, receptor, and most recently, genetic origins of disease. Just as we began to feel medicine was approaching the final frontier in the origin of disease two of the most prevalent diseases, asthma, AIDS, and peptic ulcers, were unexpectedly discovered to have important infectious components. To further question our understanding of common diseases, a recent randomized trial of antibiotics in patients with coronary artery disease demonstrated a significant improvement in those treated with a macrolide antibiotic and vaccines. Remarkably, atherosclerosis, the most deadly disease of the end of the 20th century may indeed have an important infectious component that has been ignored for decades. Battling infection in the 21st century will challenge all physicians, even cardiologists. Have we forgotten something?


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