Volume 7, Number 5—October 2001
Synopsis
Potential Infectious Etiologies of Atherosclerosis: A Multifactorial Perspective
Figure 1
!["Echo" hypothesis: activation of atheroma-associated cells by bacterial products and cytokines released in response to extravascular infection. a. Extravascular infection stimulates production of inflammatory cytokines, e.g. interleukin-1 (IL-1) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), that can elicit an echo cytokine response from inflammatory cells in residence at sites of atherogenesis. Circulating microbial products, e.g. endotoxin, can also elicit an echo response at the artery wall. b. Ext](/eid/images/01-0503-F1.gif)
Figure 1. . "Echo" hypothesis: activation of atheroma-associated cells by bacterial products and cytokines released in response to extravascular infection. a. Extravascular infection stimulates production of inflammatory cytokines, e.g. interleukin-1 (IL-1) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), that can elicit an echo cytokine response from inflammatory cells in residence at sites of atherogenesis. Circulating microbial products, e.g. endotoxin, can also elicit an echo response at the artery wall. b. Extravascular infection-elicited cytokines stimulate hepatic synthesis of acute-phase reactants. Some factors, e.g. fibrinogen, might influence complicated atheromata formation or arterial thrombosis.
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