{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,8]],"date-time":"2026-09-08T00:31:52Z","timestamp":1788827512534,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":184,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"19","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,27]],"date-time":"2021-09-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1632700800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Autoimmune rheumatic diseases (AIRDs) with unknown etiology are increasing in incidence and prevalence. Up to 5% of the population is affected. AIRDs include rheumatoid arthritis, system lupus erythematosus, systemic sclerosis, and Sj\u00f6gren\u2019s syndrome. In patients with autoimmune diseases, the immune system attacks structures of its own body, leading to widespread tissue and organ damage, which, in turn, is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. One third of the mortality associated with autoimmune diseases is due to cardiovascular diseases. Atherosclerosis is considered the main underlying cause of cardiovascular diseases. Currently, because of finding macrophages and lymphocytes at the atheroma, atherosclerosis is considered a chronic immune-inflammatory disease. In active inflammation, the liberation of inflammatory mediators such as tumor necrotic factor alpha (TNFa), interleukine-6 (IL-6), IL-1 and other factors like T and B cells, play a major role in the atheroma formation. In addition, antioxidized, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) antibodies, antinuclear antibodies (ANA), and rheumatoid factor (RF) are higher in the atherosclerotic patients. Traditional risk factors like gender, age, hypercholesterolemia, smoking, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension, however, do not alone explain the risk of atherosclerosis present in autoimmune diseases. This review examines the role of chronic inflammation in the etiology\u2014and progression\u2014of atherosclerosis in autoimmune rheumatic diseases. In addition, discussed here in detail are the possible effects of autoimmune rheumatic diseases that can affect vascular function. We present here the current findings from studies that assessed vascular function changes using state-of-the-art techniques and innovative endothelial function biomarkers.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm10194427","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,27]],"date-time":"2021-09-27T10:39:20Z","timestamp":1632739160000},"page":"4427","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":45,"title":["Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases and Vascular Function: The Concept of Autoimmune Atherosclerosis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4939-0057","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ahmed M.","family":"Hedar","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Physiology Division, Otto Loewi Center of Research in Vascular Biology, Immunity and Inflammation, Medical University of Graz, Neue Stiftingtalstra\u00dfe 6, 8010 Graz, Austria"},{"name":"Internal Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Ramsis Street, Abbassia Square, Cairo 11435, Egypt"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7884-6626","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Martin H.","family":"Stradner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Rheumatology and Immunology Department, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 15, 8036 Graz, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andreas","family":"Roessler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Physiology Division, Otto Loewi Center of Research in Vascular Biology, Immunity and Inflammation, Medical University of Graz, Neue Stiftingtalstra\u00dfe 6, 8010 Graz, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6704-0723","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nandu","family":"Goswami","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Physiology Division, Otto Loewi Center of Research in Vascular Biology, Immunity and Inflammation, Medical University of Graz, Neue Stiftingtalstra\u00dfe 6, 8010 Graz, Austria"},{"name":"Department of Health Sciences, Alma Mater Europaea, Slovenska ulica 17, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1776","DOI":"10.1161\/01.ATV.0000174800.78362.ec","article-title":"Atherosclerosis in Patients with Autoimmune Disorders","volume":"25","year":"2005","journal-title":"Arter. 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