[In the fight against atherosclerosis, statin therapy is one of the most important elements. On the basis of data from the past few years the clinical introduction of a more effective statin is not expected, however, in order to improve cardiovascular prevention further development of agents that reduce LDL-cholesterol levels more effectively than currently used statins is warranted. The need for the development of new cholesterol-lowering therapeutic options is also supported by the existence of statin intolerance. The currently available combination therapies do not provide additional mortality benefits compared with statin monotherapy. The new solutions include fourth-generation statin molecules that primarily aim to enhance the NO-donor capacity of statins, and to reduce their muscle toxicity. Certain compounds that affect cholesterol synthesis (squalene synthase inhibitors, MTP inhibitors, ACAT inhibitors) need to be further analysed because of the risk of side effects. The use of an antisense oligonucleotid that blocks the mRNA of apoB, the main protein on the LDL-particle and antibodies that inhibit the protein PCSK9 that promotes the intracellular breakdown of the LDL-receptor seems to be much more promising. Besides the lowering of LDLcholesterol level, studies have focused on the benefits of increasing HDL-cholesterol levels. Unfortunately, recently completed analyses show that new forms of the strong HDL-C increasing nicotinic acid have not provided any additional benefit when added to statin therapy. Similarly, the adverse effects associated with the promising CETP inhibitors and the lack of additional benefit when combined with statins question the significance of this drug class. The necessity for an absolute increase of HDL-cholesterol levels needs to be revised on the basis of new data, in other words, the exact role of the HDL particle in atherosclerosis needs to be further investigated.]

[In the article digital imaging methods are presented with special emphasis on the use on diagnostics of cerebral circulation studies. Recently, fundamental changes have happened in this field, concerning especially the MR investigations. These changes have influenced the therapeutic strategies of ischaemic stroke. Authors give the theoretical background on the diffusion and perfusion MR imaging, emphasising the importance of their “mismatch” and its impact in the estimation of the outcome of ischaemic events. More recently, new, controversial facts arose, regarding the reasons of the introduction of the theory of so called “negative” and “positive” mismatches. As a consequence, a level of uncertainty took place in the judgement of prognostics. The leading institutions are searching the way to solve the problem which seems to be the quantitative evaluation of the diffusion, perfusion and mismatch data. The advent of the multislice spiral CT with very fast imaging and the importance of CT investigations increased. With this new kind of equipment, even perfusion studies can be performed using iodinated contrast medium.]

[Acute-onset cerebrovascular diseases are connected to a number of immunological changes. Here, we summarize immune responses participating in the evolution of atherosclerotic plaques and poststroke local immune responses in the injured CNS as well as in the systemic circulation. Ischemic injury of the CNS alters the balanced neuroimmune modulation resulting in CIDS, the central nervous system injury-induced immune deficiency syndrome. Due to the immunodepression and reduced pro-inflammatory immune responses, the susceptibility for infection is increased; indeed, poststroke infection plays a major role in stroke-related mortality. On the other hand, CIDS may protect against damaging autoimmune responses elicited by exposed CNS antigens. Investigation of immune responses related to ischemic stroke may result in novel therapies indicated by an increasing number of experimental and clinical trials altering poststroke immune responses and preventing infections.]

[Statins have become crucial components of the therapy of cardiovascular diseases. Beyond their cholesterol-lowering effect, statins turned out to have further beneficial effects on various vascular mechanisms. One of the best known effects is antithrombotic capacity, which is related partly to platelet function and partly to the coagulation cascade. Besides experimental observations, interventional clinical trials have also demonstrated that statins have an antithrombotic effect both in arterial and venous thrombosis. Regarding the effects of statins on dementia, previous studies with relatively small sample sizes had controversial results. Recently, two observational studies of tens of thousands of elderly patients reported that statins reduce the incidence of nonvascular dementia. Evaluation of the data revealed that statins have pleiotropic effects in this case, too. The results discussed here shed light on new benefits of statin therapy used for reducing cardiovascular mortality, namely the prevention of thrombotic events and dementia. These benefits are related to the antithrombotic and anti-inflammatoric capacity of statins.]

[With the new era of the medicaments, erectile dysfunction has become of great interest among sexual problems. Earlier, psychogenic origin was thought to be the main background, but today vasculogenetic reasons are have become equally important factors. Experimental data and clinical investigations demonstrate that erectile dysfunction is part and consequence of the same vascular process which is observed in aging and in atherosclerotic processes of the well-known arterial localisations (coronary arteries, cerebral arteries etc.). It was also common previously to associate erectile dysfunction with obliterative atherosclerotic disease but today endothel dysfunction, vascular remodelling and atherosclerosis are thought to be main pathogenetic factors affecting the whole arterial vascular system causing erectile dysfunction. Classic risk factors can also be observed in these patients, such as hypertension, dyslipidaemia, smoking and diabetes. Neurogenic factors are also involved in the development of erectile dysfunction. Based on this, erectile dysfunction is considered as the predictor of cardiovascular diseases preceding the general manifestation of the disease by 2-3 years.]