Table 1. Selected potentially beneficial therapeutics for immune or inflammatory diseases in atherosclerosis.

Drug or method	Current or proposed use	Relevance to immune responses in atherosclerosis
Statins	Cholesterol lowering to prevent CVD	Reduce the generation of atheroantigens; direct anti-inflammatory effects independent of cholesterol lowering
Methotrexate (low dose)	Approved for rheumatologic diseases, IBD, psoriasis; clinical trial ongoing for CVD	Inhibits purine metabolism, which impairs T cell activation; RA patients have elevated risk of CVD
Anti-IL-1β	Clinical trial ongoing for CVD	IL-1β is made in atherosclerotic lesions; cholesterol crystals activate the inflammasome, which leads to IL-1β secretion
Anti-IL-17	Clinical trials for psoriasis	IL-17 may be proatherogenic; psoriasis patients have elevated risk for CVD
Anti-p40 (IL-12/IL-23)	Approved for psoriasis	IL-12 is required for TH1 differentiation, and TH1 cells are proatherogenic; IL-23 is required for TH17 differentiation, and IL-17 may be proatherogenic; psoriasis patients have elevated risk of CVD
BAFF inhibitor	Approved for SLE	BAFF is required for B-2 B cell responses, and B-2 B cells may be proatherogenic; SLE patients have elevated risk of CVD
Anti-CD20	Approved for RA and B cell lymphomas	Depletes B-2 B but not B-1 B cells in mice, and B-2 B cells may be proatherogenic; B-1 cells are protective, and a newly identified human B-1 B cell subset expresses CD20
CTLA-4 Ig	Approved for RA and renal transplant rejection	Blocks T cell costimulation by B7-1 and B7-2, and these costimulatory molecules enhance proatherogenic T cell responses

Abb mations:jBAFF, bJ~cII—activating factor; CTLA, cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen; CVD, cardiovascular disease; IBD, inflammatory bowel disease; Ig, immunoglobulin; IL, interleukin; RA, rheumatoid arthritis; SLE, systemic lupus erythematosus.