Recent advances in lipoproteins and atherosclerosis: A nutrigenomic approach

Atherosclerosis is a disease in which multiple factors contribute to the degeneration of the vascular wall. Many risk factors have been identified as having influence on the progression of atherosclerosis among them, the type of diet. Multifactorial interaction among lipoproteins, vascular wall cells, and inflammatory mediators has been recognised as the basis of atherogenesis. Dietary intake affects lipoprotein concentration and composition providing risk or protection at several stages of atherosclerosis. More intriguingly, it has been demonstrated that the extent to which each lipid or lipoprotein is associated with cardiovascular disease depends on the time to last meal; thus, postprandial lipoproteins, main lipoproteins in blood after a high-tat meal, have been shown to strongly influence atherogenesis. As a complex biological process, the full cellular and molecular characterization of atherosclerosis derived by diet, calls for application of the newly developing "omics" techniques of analysis. This review will considered recent studies using high-throughput technologies and a nutrigenomic approach to reveal the patho-physiological effects that the fasting and postprandial lipoproteins may exert on the vascular wall.