Atherosclerosis is a complex disease caused by both genetic and environmental factors. DNA methylation is an important epigenetic mechanism that regulates gene expression, while the altered gene expression parttrens caused by environment can be passed on to the daughter cells. Rencent studies suggested that DNA methylation played a critical role in the development of atherosclerosis. This article provides a review of the relationship of the DNA methylation and atherosclerosis in the recent studies.