Targeting inflammation to reduce cardiovascular disease risk

Abstract

This joint themed section of the British Journal of Pharmacology and the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology stems from a joint British Pharmacological Society -Italian Society of Pharmacology symposium held at the 37 th National Congress of the Italian Society of Pharmacology in Naples (Italy) from 27 to 30 October 2015. LINKED ARTICLESThis article is part of a themed section on Targeting Inflammation to Reduce Cardiovascular Disease Risk. To view the other articles in this section visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v174.22/issuetoc and http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/ 10.1111/bcp.v82.4/issuetoc Abbreviations AT, adipose tissue; ATL, aspirin-triggered lipoxin A4; CVDs, cardiovascular diseases Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the major cause of morbidity and mortality in Western society and, in the near future, are expected to be the main cause of death globally (WHO, 2011). Basic research data strongly support a crucial role played by inflammatory and immune mechanisms in CVD, and studies in animal models have shown that specific immune-inflammatory pathways could be targeted for therapeutic utility. However, the translation of this scientific knowledge to the treatment of human CVDs is still in the early stages (Welsh et al., 2017).New and selective immune therapies are already in use for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, and large clinical trials have just been published or are currently evaluating the effect of several of these treatments on atherosclerosis and related pathologies. The outcome of these studies is likely to lead to new approaches in the management of vascular inflammation.This joint themed section of the British Journal of Pharmacology and the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology has brought together scientists studying cardiovascular inflammation over a broad range of topics. The aim is to provide an up-todate overview of the current understanding of inflammatory and immune mechanisms in CVD, to summarize the current clinical picture regarding the use of anti-inflammatory drugs in cardiovascular medicine and to discuss future directions towards more specific immune therapies.The themed section is introduced by Welsh et al. (2017). These authors provide an overview of the key therapeutic targets in the treatment of vascular inflammation, placing basic research in a wider clinical perspective. Following the publication of the review article, data from the Phase III Canakinumab Anti-inflammatory Thrombosis Outcomes Study (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01327846) have been published, showing that canakinumab -a monoclonal antibody against IL-1β -in combination with standard therapy reduces recurrent cardiovascular events in patients with a prior myocardial infarction and high levels of circulating C-reactive protein (Ridker et al., 2017). This is the first demonstration in a large, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase III study that using anti-cytokine-based therapies may be a viable approach for secondary prevention of atherosclerosis-r...

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