Objective: To explore the relation of adenosine triphosphate binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) and Liver X-activated receptors (LXRs) to atherosclerosis (AS). Data sources: Using the terms of "ABCA1 and LXRs", a computer search of Medline database was undertaken to identify the articles published in English between January 2000 and September 2005. We also retrieved the Chinese Full-Text database and Vip Information database for related Chinese articles published from January 2000 to September 2005 with the same keywords. Meanwhile, we searched manually recent published literatures and magazines. Study selection: The data were selected firstly to choose the relevant articles. Inclusive criteria: 1 Articles about the structure and function of ABCA1 and LXRs. 2 Articles about the relation of ABCA1 and LXRs to blood lipids. 3 Literatures about the relation of polymorphism and mutation of ABCA1 and LXRs with blood lipids. 4Literatures on correlation of ABCA1 and LXRs to coronary atherosclerotic heart disease (CAHD), myocardial infarction (MI), cerebral infarction (CI) and AS. 5 Related literatures on relation of polymorphism and mutation of ABCA1, LXRs with CAHD, MI, CI and AS. The repeated and not met the inclusive criteria articles were excluded. Data extraction: Totally 42 articles from 86 ones were selected and full texts were searched, including 4 ones related to the structure and function of ABCA1 and LXRs; 21 ones about the relation of ABCA1 and LXRs with blood lipids metabolism; 11 ones about the relation between ABCA1, LXRs and AS; 4 ones related to the modulation of LXRs to ABCA1 and 2 ones related to stroke. There were 21 articles as the references. Data synthesis: All articles were reviewed to analyze the structure and function of ABCA1 and LXRs. The articles suggested that ABCA1 and LXRs could modulate blood lipids spectrum at different levels and LXRs could modulate ABCA1, which affected AS by influencing the blood lipids spectrum. Conclusion: ABCA1 and LXRs play important roles in pathogenic process of AS by modulating blood lipids metabolism, and LXRs can modulate the expression of ABCA1, which may be the important candidate genes for cerebro-cardiovascular diseases closely correlated with AS.