Wong, Wai Yin. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 92-108). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Atherosclerosis --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1.1 --- Pathogenesis of Atherosclerosis --- p.2 / Chapter 1.1.2 --- Atherosclerosis and Cardiovascular Disease --- p.4 / Chapter 1.2 --- Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) --- p.5 / Chapter 1.2.1 --- Term Definition --- p.5 / Chapter 1.2.2 --- Risk Factors --- p.6 / Chapter 1.2.3 --- Current Western Medications --- p.7 / Chapter 1.3 --- Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) --- p.8 / Chapter 1.3.1 --- Impact of ROS --- p.8 / Chapter 1.3.2 --- "Superoxide Anion Radical, Hydrogen Peroxide, Hydroxyl Radical, Nitric Oxide" --- p.9 / Chapter 1.3.3 --- ROS Production by NAD(P)H Oxidases --- p.11 / Chapter 1.3.4 --- ROS Production by Mitochondria --- p.12 / Chapter 1.3.5 --- Lipid Peroxidation --- p.13 / Chapter 1.3.6 --- Other Sources of ROS --- p.15 / Chapter 1.4 --- Antioxidants --- p.16 / Chapter 1.4.1 --- Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) --- p.16 / Chapter 1.4.2 --- Catalase (CAT) --- p.17 / Chapter 1.4.3 --- Glutathinoe Peroxidase (GPx) --- p.17 / Chapter 1.4.4 --- Glutathione-S-Transferase (GST) --- p.18 / Chapter 1.4.5 --- Vitamin E --- p.18 / Chapter 1.4.6 --- Vitamin C --- p.19 / Chapter 1.5 --- Ageing --- p.19 / Chapter 1.6 --- Antioxidants and CVD --- p.21 / Chapter 1.7 --- Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) --- p.22 / Chapter 1.7.1 --- Danshen --- p.23 / Chapter 1.7.2 --- Gegen --- p.25 / Chapter 1.7.3 --- Danshen-Gegen Compound Formula (DG) --- p.26 / Chapter 1.8 --- Aim of Study --- p.27 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- In vitro Foam Cells Formation --- p.29 / Chapter 2.1 --- Materials and Methods --- p.29 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Materials --- p.29 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Methods --- p.30 / Chapter 2.1.2.1 --- Herbal Preparation by Hot Water Extraction --- p.30 / Chapter 2.1.2.2 --- Resident Peritoneal Macrophages Preparation --- p.31 / Chapter 2.1.2.3 --- "Colorimetric 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl Tetrazolium Bromide (MTT) Assay" --- p.31 / Chapter 2.1.2.4 --- DG Effect on in vitro Foam Cells Formation --- p.32 / Chapter 2.2 --- Results and Discussion --- p.32 / Chapter 2.3 --- Summary --- p.39 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- In vivo Antioxidant Level --- p.40 / Chapter 3.1 --- DG Effect on in vivo Antioxidant Levels on Young-adult Wistar Rats --- p.40 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Materials and Methods --- p.40 / Chapter 3.1.1.1 --- Herbal Preparation by Hot Water Extraction --- p.40 / Chapter 3.1.1.2 --- Assay Kits --- p.41 / Chapter 3.1.1.3 --- Antibodies for Protein Expression Determination in Organs --- p.41 / Chapter 3.1.1.4 --- Animals and Experimental Design --- p.41 / Chapter 3.1.1.5 --- Plasma Antioxidants --- p.42 / Chapter 3.1.1.6 --- Lipid Peroxidation and Protein Expression in Organs --- p.46 / Chapter 3.1.1.7 --- Statistics --- p.52 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- Results and Discussion --- p.53 / Chapter 3.2 --- DG Effect on in vivo Antioxidant Levels on Middle-aged Wistar Rats --- p.74 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Materials and Methods --- p.75 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Results and Discussion --- p.75 / Chapter 3.3 --- Summary --- p.87 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Conclusion and Future Work --- p.90 / Chapter 4.1 --- Conclusion --- p.90 / Chapter 4.2 --- Future work --- p.90 / Reference --- p.92 / Related Publication --- p.109