Abstract
Atherosclerosis including its subclinical form is one of the key medical and social problems. At present, there is no therapy available for widespread use against subclinical atherosclerosis. The use of synthetic drugs for the prevention of arteriosclerosis in its early stages is not sufficient because of the limited indications for severe side effects and high cost of treatment. Obviously, effective antiatherosclerotic drugs based on natural products would be a preferred alternative. Simple cell-based models for testing different natural products have been developed and the ability of natural products to prevent intracellular lipid accumulation in primary cell culture was evaluated. This approach utilizing cell models allowed to test effects of such direct antiatherosclerotic therapy, analyzing the effects mimicking those which can occur "at the level" of arterial wall via the inhibition of intracellular lipid deposition. The data from the carried out clinical trials support a point of view that the identification of antiatherosclerotic activity of natural products might offer a great opportunity for the prevention and treatment of atherosclerotic disease, reducing cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.