The goals of the proposed center are centered upon factors which appear to play significant roles in the development of atherosclerosis and its complications. These factors include the potential of lipids in the diet, in the blood and in the tissues to produce abnormalities in organ structure and function, especially of the blood vessels and heart. We are concerned with the pathogenesis and treatment of human and experimental atherosclerosis; with the metabolism of sterols, bile acids and fatty acids including their absorption, entero-hepatic relationships and protein transport in the blood; with the influx, local effects and efflux of cholesterol in the arterial wall; with the effects of free fatty acids on platelet function, metabolism and morphology; with injury and permeability of the endothelium, with consumption coagulopathy; with acute functional derangement of the myocardium after stress; with the factors which regulate the incorporation of free fatty acids in mammalian cells; and with the mechanism of free fatty acid transport with binding to albumin and lipoproteins and their transfer between protein and cells; the mechanisms of platelet aggregation and involvement in thrombus formation; the detection and evaluation of procoagulant activity and platelet function in patients and in animal models with a propensity to thrombosis; and the detection and treatment of hereditary and acquired coronary disease risk factors in young school children.