Vital Targets and Delivery Strategies in Treating Atherosclerosis

In recent years, there have been a lot of new achievements in the field of atherosclerosis treatment, and targets and delivery strategies are two vital aspects. This chapter describes important therapeutic targets in atherosclerosis and methods for transporting therapeutic agents to plaques. According to a series of scientific studies and clinical practice, focusing on the main pathways of plaque buildup and rupture contribute to suppress plaque formation or eliminate existing plaque, ultimately reducing the occurrence of fatal complications, like heart attacks and strokes. In this part, on the one side, key target in atherogenic process covering oxidative stress, dysfunctional endothelium, diseased lipid uptake, cell apoptosis, thrombotic and pro-inflammatory responding and switched SMCs are introduced detailly. On the other side, recent research on payload delivery based on scaffolds/balloons/nanoparticles has also been summarized. It is worth believing that a better understanding and coordination of targets and transportation approaches can promote the emergence of more safe and effective novel methods for treating atherosclerosis.