[Importance of the cell as a basis for the study of pathological processes (on the example of arteriosclerosis)].

The involvement of pathology in the basic research as well as the use of new methods of structural analysis and recognition of new hypotheses makes the achievements of closely related theoretical and clinical sciences fruitful. The concepts of Virchow's cellular pathology confirm the importance of the cell in the search of relationship between the etiology and pathogenesis in pathological processes. It can be shown in atherosclerosis that both the lipid alterations and structural response of the arterial wall result from the processes at the cell level. Further progress in the study of atherosclerosis etiology and its pathogenesis can be achieved only if more emphasis is made on the cell alterations instead of studying the changes in the vascular wall in toto and determination of lipoprotein content (these factors taken separately do not reveal the essence of the pathological process).