A Review: Pathological and Molecule-Biological Studies of Atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis is a disease that arterial intima gradually are thickened and transformed into a sclerotic plaque, interfering with normal blood flow and resulting fatalities. It includes three stages, the pre stage characterized with Diffuse Intimal Thickenings (DITs) and fatty streaks, the early atherosclerotic stage with Pathological Intimal Thickening (PIT), and the late stage with fibroatheromas transformed from PIT. Every atherosclerotic stage consists distinctive morphological alterations, and biologic changes and expression of immune markers at different levels. This review summarized discoveries and achievements of microanatomy, ultrastructure, immunohistochemically staining and molecular biology in literatures about atherosclerosis. Specifically, common histological changes and pathomechanism of atherosclerosis are emphasized based on our studies in this review.

Author(s): Ru Yong-xin, Liu Jing

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