Innate Immunity in Coronary Disease. The Role of Interleukin-12 Cytokine Family in Atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerosis is a chronic, progressive, and multifactorial disease modulated by genetic and environmental factors. In recent years, the paradigm that explained atherosclerosis as resulting from a complex interaction between factors not accessible to medical intervention, and modifiable risk factors has changed. In this paradigm, alterations in lipid metabolism were the pivotal concept of atherosclerosis as a chronic degenerative disease. In the last years, an increasing number of observations have shown that the innate and adaptive immune responses to lipoprotein deposition and oxidation in the arterial wall significantly influence atherosclerosis. Currently, it is well recognized that the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and its complications involves the inflammatory process, which includes the participation of several cytokines. Besides the classic cytokines involved in this process, the role of the interleukin-12 (IL-12) family has been recently demonstrated. This review describes our current understanding about the role of the family of IL-12 in atherosclerosis considering the participation of the genes that encode these cytokines in the genetic susceptibility to developing this disease.