Plants and Phytochemicals for the Treatment of Atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis is known as a chronic inflammatory disease of the artery wall and is a global health problem. Several risk factors such as lipid accumulation, oxidative stress and inflammatory indices cause atherosclerosis. In addition, the complex signaling pathways and cellular mechanisms lead to disadvantages in the risk factors caused by atherosclerosis in arteries or organ dysfunction caused by atherosclerosis. It seems that natural products and herbal medicines are a reliable source of anti-atherosclerotic and lipid-regulating potential due to their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, lipid-lowering, antiplatelet and anti-thrombotic effects. Furthermore, in addition to traditional evidence, they also demonstrated valuable atheroprotective functions in various preclinical and clinical models. This chapter demonstrates that herbal medicines and natural agents are safe and effective additives; thanks to the modulation of hyperlipidemia damage in the light of related pharmacological and molecular approaches.