AAV-Mediated Gene Therapy for Atherosclerosis

The prognosis of patients with coronary artery disease and stroke has improved substantially over the last decade as a result of advances in primary and secondary preventive care as well as novel interventional approaches, including the development of drug-eluting stents and balloons. Despite this progress, however, cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in industrialized nations. Sustained efforts to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of atherogenesis, reperfusion-induced cardiac injury, and ischemic heart failure have led to the identification of several target genes as key players in the development and progression of atherosclerotic vascular disease. This knowledge has now enabled genetic therapeutic modulation not only for inherited diseases with a single gene defect, such as familial hypercholesterolemia, but also for multifactorial disorders. This review will focus on approaches in adeno-associated viral (AAV)-mediated gene therapy for atherosclerosis and its long-term sequelae.