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动脉粥样硬化既是胆固醇在血管壁聚集的疾病，也是发生在动脉壁的一种低强度慢性炎症形式。近年来有研究证实胆固醇结晶在动脉粥样硬化发生发展中具有重要作用。新的显微技术证实，胆固醇结晶在动脉粥样硬化斑块形成的早期即已出现，并与早期炎症有关。胆固醇结晶通过诱发局部炎症，促进大的脂质核心形成；刺破纤维帽，导致斑块破裂进而促进动脉粥样硬化斑块的进展。在影响斑块进程中，NLRP3 炎症体的激活对此发挥了重要的作用。NLRP3 炎症体是研究最多最明确的炎症体，其与非炎症性疾病的发生发展密切相关。以胆固醇结晶激活NLRP3 炎症体的途径作为研究靶点，为动脉粥样硬化的诊断和治疗提供了新的思路和方法。该文就胆固醇结晶在动脉粥样硬化斑块中激活巨噬细胞NLRP3 炎症体的两种途径做一综述。

英文摘要:

Atherosclerosis is a disease of aggregation of cholesterol in the vessel wall, and also a low-intensity chronic inflammation form that occurs in the artery wall. In recent years, some researches have shown that cholesterol crystals play an important role on atherosclerosis development. New microscopy technology confirmed that cholesterol crystals had emerged in the early atherosclerotic plaque formation, which related with early inflammatory. Cholesterol crystals induce local inflammation, and promote the formation of large lipid core; pierce the fibrous cap, leading to plaque rupture thereby promoting the atherosclerotic plaque development. During the process of impacting plaques, NLRP3 inflammasome activation plays a critical part for it. NLRP3 inflammasome is the up most explicit inflammasome, closely related to the development of non-inflammatory diseases. Cholesterol crystals activating the NLRP3 inflammasome pathway is considered as one possible research target, providing new ideas and methods for the diagnosis and treatment of atherosclerosis. This article is aimed to review two ways of cholesterol crystals activating the atherosclerotic plaque macrophages NLRP3 inflammasome.

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