Abstract
Although the mortality from coronary heart disease has declined recently, atherosclerosis and related vascular disorders still are the leading causes of death in the United States and other Western countries. The etiology of this disease is multifactorial, with hyperlipidemia, smoking, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and obesity being well-established risk factors for the development of atherosclerosis. Dietary fat affects plasma lipids and lipoproteins and thus is linked to atherosclerosis (Watkins et al., 1996). Injury to or abnormal mechanisms of the vascular endothelium may be initiating events in the etiology of atherosclerosis.