Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0004153 (atherosclerosis)
 77,401 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

An overview is given over etiology and prognosis of cerebral ischemias until the age of 40. In a time period of 19 years, 168 patients were diagnosed with cerebral ischemia until the age of 40 (91 females, 77 males). The most frequent etiology is premature atherosclerosis in patients with vascular risk factors (up to 50%). Cardiogenic embolism is responsible for 1 to 34% of the cases: cardiac valve diseases and endocarditis being the most frequent sources. In 2 to 19% a vasculitis is diagnosed. While infectious arteritis is especially frequent in countries of the third world, immunovasculitides are common in Europe and the USA. Noninflammatory vasculopathies include spontaneous or traumatic dissection, fibromuscular dysplasia and vascular malformations. A migrainous stroke is especially frequent in female smokers with intake of oral contraceptives. During pregnancy both sinus thrombosis and arterial ischemia occur. Hematologic causes for ischemia are polycythemia, thrombocytosis and genetic diseases (sickle cell anemia, AT3-deficiency). Cerebral ischemia may occur in connection with the ingestion of ergot-derivates. The prognosis of cerebral ischemia in young adults is better than in older stroke-patients.
 ...
PMID:[Cerebral ischemia in young adults]. 193 40

Since renin catalyses the first and rate-limiting step of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) cascade, interruption of the generation of angiotensin II (Ang II) by renin inhibitors at this highly specific initial step of the cascade has long been a therapeutic goal. The early development of renin inhibitors was hampered by problems with bioavailability and high costs of synthesis. However, more recently a potent non-peptidic inhibitor of renin, aliskiren, with acceptable oral bioavailability, has been synthesised. Aliskiren effectively reduces Ang II levels in normal volunteers and has been shown to lower blood pressure (BP) in patients with mild-to-moderate hypertension. Renin inhibitors would be expected to have similar, but not identical effects to those of the established RAS antagonists. Due to the lack of effective alternative enzyme pathways, blockade of Ang II production may be more effective with renin inhibition than with angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition. Furthermore, because renin has high specificity for only one substrate, angiotensinogen, side-effects would be expected to be less frequent. It is currently unclear whether blockade of Ang II type 1 (AT1) receptors, leaving other Ang II receptors (AT2, AT3 and AT4) unblocked, is preferable to the reduction in plasma and tissue Ang II levels achieved with either ACE or renin inhibition. Pharmacological suppression of the RAS, through ACE inhibition, or blockade of AT1, beta-adrenoceptor or mineralocorticoid receptors, has been proven to reduce morbidity and mortality in patients with hypertension, diabetes mellitus, atherosclerosis, heart failure and nephropathy. While, to date, aliskiren has only been shown to reduce BP, it appears likely that orally-active renin inhibitors could prove useful in the management of a wide range of cardiovascular pathologies.
 ...
PMID:Potential of renin inhibition in cardiovascular disease. 1269 47