The dramatic ischemic atherosclerotic complications in the heart and brain represent the most important cause of death and morbidity in the adult population in developing and developed countries. In the last decades, the Framingham studies identified several diseases and conditions (such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, smoking, diabetes, old age, and male sex) strongly associated with an increased risk of acute ischemic events. Despite highly sensitive, these “traditional” cardiovascular risk factors showed a very low specificity. Thus, more recently, chronic inflammatory diseases (such as rheumatoid arthritis, HIV infection, and also obesity) have been indicated as conditions accelerating atherogenesis. Given the strong positive association between inflammation and atherosclerosis, several inflammatory soluble biomarkers have been investigated to better assess the global cardiovascular risk. This special issue will be focused on new soluble mediators as promising candidates to better assess the cardiovascular risk. Systemic and intraplaque inflammatory molecules influencing pathophysiology of cardiovascular vulnerability, in particular, the role of C-reactive protein (CRP), cytokines, chemokines, and autoantibodies, will be discussed. The potential therapeutic strategies to reduce the proatherosclerotic activities of these mediators in vivo and vitro will be included on the issue. Furthermore, evidence on the limitations on the clinical use of inflammatory biomarkers will be updated. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• The pathophysiology of atherosclerosis: update on inflammatory molecules and cell subsets
• Update on cardiovascular risk and mediators in chronic inflammatory diseases
• Novel promising inflammatory biomarkers and factors
• Update on the clinical use of C-reactive protein (CRP) and its limitations
• Autoimmunity in cardiovascular vulnerability
• Obesity and inflammation: role for adipocytokines
• HIV, chronic infections, and cardiovascular risk: more than an association
• Chemokines, cytokines, and their selective blockade to reduce plaque vulnerability
• Hormones in atherosclerosis
• Cardiovascular imaging and inflammatory risk biomarkers
• Coronary and endothelial dysfunction to better predict the risk of acute ischemic events

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