Paul Ridker and colleagues have written some great recent reviews on inflammation as it related to cardiovascular disease. Here are a few free reviews that discuss inflammation as a CVD risk factor and summarize a lot of the clinical evidence for the inflammation hypothesis. Figure 5 from this paper, does a great job summarizing and illustrating the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome and the subsequent increase in IL-1B, IL-6 and CRP. 

From CRP to IL-6 to IL-1: Moving Upstream To Identify Novel Targets for Atheroprotection

Targeting Residual Inflammatory Risk: A Shifting Paradigm for Atherosclerotic Disease

A Test in Context: High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein