resveratrol in chlamydia pneumoniaeinduced foam cell formation and interleukin17a synthesis the involvement of chlamydia pneumoniae in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis has been suggested by numerous seroepidemiological in vivo and in vitro studies in particular it has been shown that c pneumoniae is able to promote the accumulation of lowdensity lipoproteins into macrophages thus facilitating foam cell formation the aim of our study was to investigate the effects of resveratrol on macrophage derived foam cell formation induced by c pneumoniae examining its underlying biochemical mechanisms our results showed a relevant decrease in the number of foam cells in the production of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances superoxide anion and il 17a while treating c pneumoniae infected macrophages with resveratrol furthermore the inhibition of peroxisome proliferatoractivated receptors gamma by a specific antagonist gw 9662 in presence of resveratrol and c pneumoniae enhanced intracellular lipid and cholesterol accumulation and the subsequent foam cell formation in conclusion the main result of our study is the evidence of an antiatherogenic effect of resveratrol on macrophagederived foam cell formation and il17a production induced by c pneumoniae