Atherosclerosis is the most common disease in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and vascular endothelial dysfunction is the initial stage of atherosclerosis. As a physical barrier between the flowing blood and the endothelium,glycocalyx can participate in the occurrence and development of atherosclerosis by regulating vascular permeability, diastolic function, intercellular communication and inflammatory cell adhesion. Therefore, the maintenance or restoration of the integrity of the glycocalyx may be a potential therapeutic target for atherosclerosis. Moreover, the abscission level of glycocalyx can reflect the severity of atherosclerosis. Therefore, the level of glycocalyx degradation products (such as acetheparan sulfate, hyaluronic acid, etc) may be used to evaluate the severity of atherosclerosis in the future. This review summarizes the research progress of glycocalyx in atherogenesis.