Immunogenicity and cardiovascular disease

Cardiovascular diseases and their subsequent complications are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide.As their complex pathogeneses have been gradually unwoven, the regimes of treatments and therapies have increased with still much ground to cover.Research over the past decades has clearly demonstrated that chronic inflammation and autoimmune mechanisms play critical roles in the pathogeneses of these diseases.However, several important issues remain to be addressed including the mechanisms underlying increased immunogenicity of self-proteins in the cardiovascular system, the roles of immunogenic autoantigens in eliciting inflammatory autoimmune responses, and the immunosuppressive mechanisms involved in controlling inflammatory and autoimmune cardiovascular diseases.Therefore, in this chapter, we will analyze the progress in the field by focusing on the following topics: (1)the innate and adaptive immune responses mediating immunogenicity; (2) mechanisms of inflammation and autoimmunity in atherogenesis; (3)mechanisms of inflammation and autoimmunity in diabetic atherosclerosis; (4) immunogenicity and stem cell therapy; and (5) immunogenicity and immunosuppression. Characterization of the relationship between immunogenicity and cardiovascular diseases will lead to the future development of novel therapeutics for these diseases.