<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>
Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory process that results in complex lesions or plaques that protrude into the arterial lumen. Carotid
atherosclerotic plaque rupture, with distal atheromatous debris embolization, causes cerebrovascular events. This
review aimed to explore
research progress on the
risk factors and outcomes of
human carotid
atherosclerotic plaques, and the molecular and cellular mechanisms of
human carotid
atherosclerotic plaque vulnerability for
therapeutic intervention.</p><p><b>
DATA SOURCES</b>We searched the
PubMed database for recently published
research articles up to June 2016, with the key words of "
risk factors", "outcomes", "
blood components", "molecular mechanisms", "cellular mechanisms", and "
human carotid
atherosclerotic plaques".</p><p><b>STUDY SELECTION</b>The articles, regarding the latest developments related to the
risk factors and outcomes,
atherosclerotic plaque composition,
blood components, and consequences of
human carotid
atherosclerotic plaques, and the molecular and cellular mechanisms of
human carotid
atherosclerotic plaque vulnerability for
therapeutic intervention, were selected.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>This
review described the latest researches regarding the interactive effects of both traditional and novel
risk factors for
human carotid
atherosclerotic plaques, novel insights into
human carotid
atherosclerotic plaque composition and
blood components, and consequences of
human carotid
atherosclerotic plaque.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Carotid plaque
biology and serologic
biomarkers of
vulnerability can be used to predict the
risk of cerebrovascular events. Furthermore, plaque composition, rather than lesion burden, seems to most predict
rupture and subsequent
thrombosis.</p>