Abstract:

Atherosclerosis is a complex vascular inflammatory disease. It has been demonstrated that inflammatory processes participate in all stages of atherosclerotic development, from the initial stage of vascular endothelial cell perturbations to the ultimate thrombogenesis. Through inhibition of platelet function, aspirin plays an important role in the second level prevention of atherosclerotic diseases. However, aspirin is not only an anti-thrombotic drug but also an anti-inflammatory agent. The anti-inflammatory action of aspirin in atherosclerotic diseases, including inhibition action on nuclear factor-κB, cyclooxygenase, CD40/CD40 ligand and oxidative stress, and its lipoxin pathway in anti-inflammation action are reviewed in this paper.

Key words: aspirin, atherosclerosis, nuclear factor-κB, CD40/CD40 ligand, cyclooxygenase, lipoxin, oxidative stress