BACKGROUND: The pathogenesis of atherosclerosis lies in abnormalities in lipoprotein metabolism leading to pathological interactions with vessel walls and the release of inflammatory components, which further aggravate the disease condition. OBJECTIVE: To elucidate current and emerging trends in drug discovery towards the development of new entities regulating lipoprotein metabolism and inflammatory components to combat the progression of atherosclerosis. METHODS: Research/review articles in the public domain and press releases were employed. RESULTS/ CONCLUSION: With the recent failure of torcetrapib and succinobucol, drug discovery and development efforts towards the treatment of atherosclerosis have received a big jolt and have been slowed down to a certain extent [corrected]. But this could be a starting point for several new mechanisms that are emerging to discover new drugs to combat the disease.
BACKGROUND: The pathogenesis of atherosclerosis lies in abnormalities in lipoprotein metabolism leading to pathological interactions with vessel walls and the release of inflammatory components, which further aggravate the disease condition. OBJECTIVE: To elucidate current and emerging trends in drug discovery towards the development of new entities regulating lipoprotein metabolism and inflammatory components to combat the progression of atherosclerosis. METHODS: Research/review articles in the public domain and press releases were employed. RESULTS/ CONCLUSION: With the recent failure of torcetrapib and succinobucol, drug discovery and development efforts towards the treatment of atherosclerosis have received a big jolt and have been slowed down to a certain extent [corrected]. But this could be a starting point for several new mechanisms that are emerging to discover new drugs to combat the disease.
Authors: Ondřej Jurček; Satu Ikonen; Lucie Buřičová; Martina Wimmerová; Zdeněk Wimmer; Pavel Drašar; Jan Horníček; Adéla Galandáková; Jitka Ulrichová; Erkki T Kolehmainen Journal: Molecules Date: 2011-11-10 Impact factor: 4.411