Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease of arteries subsequent to hypercholesteronemia and diabetes, that affects both large arteries and microvessels.

The development of early atherosclerotic lesions can be subdivided into initiation (formation of small fatty streaks), expansion (vertical and lateral growth and coalescence of fatty streaks), and progression to plaques (intimal smooth muscle cell recruitment, collagen deposition, and formation of a fibrous cap).

During the initiation and expansion of fatty streaks, circulating monocytes are recruited to the arterial intima, where they are transformed into lipid-engorged macrophage foam cells.The arterial endothelium in these regions is activated and expresses inducible leukocyte adhesion molecules and chemokines.

Although clinically significant complications of atherosclerosis, such as plaque ulceration, rupture, and thrombosis occurs in advanced disease, understanding the mechanism of early lesion formation offers the hope of intervening to delay or prevent lesion progression and complications by using natural compounds from food sources and phytomedicines.

Moreover, in the context of heart pathophysiology, cytokines induced by foam cells in coronary arterial inflammation may have a direct influenced in the cardiac myocytes.

Therefore, VivaCell offers pre-clinical studies for nutraceuticals and phytoextracts using “in vitro” biological test specifically directed to analyse key cellular and molecular targets involved in the progression of the cardiovascular inflammations.

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