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

Oxidative modification of human low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is thought to play a major role in the development of atherosclerosis. Free hemin, hemoglobin, myoglobin, and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) were reported in different studies as promoters of LDL lipid oxidation. Based on our previous finding that hemin induced oxidative crosslinking of the LDL protein, apolipoprotein B (apo B) (Y. I. Miller and N. Shaklai (1994) Biochem. Mol. Biol. Int. 34, 1121-1129), we compared the ability of free hemin and the above hemoproteins to induce peroxidation modification of apo B using SDS-PAGE. The levels of the final products of lipid peroxidation were determined as thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances. Hemoglobin and myoglobin were found to be as active as free hemin and all these were much more active than the classic peroxidase HRP. Moreover, the products of oxidized apo B differed: hemoglobin, myoglobin, and hemin induced mostly covalent aggregates, while HRP caused fragmentation of apo B. Hemoglobin reactivity was expressed at low H2O2 concentrations even in the absence of molecular oxygen. Desferal, along with other antioxidants, inhibited the hemoglobin-induced LDL oxidation independently of its iron-chelating property. The high peroxidative reactivity of hemoglobin is explained by its ability (unlike HRP) to transfer the oxidative equivalents from the heme active site, through the globin, to LDL. The apo B radicals thus formed are terminated, yielding intermolecular crosslinked protein. It is suggested that small amounts of the highly reactive hemoglobin in plasma, suffice to trigger LDL protein oxidation (along with its lipid oxidation), thereby inflict the atherosclerosis precondition.
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PMID:Hemoglobin induced apolipoprotein B crosslinking in low-density lipoprotein peroxidation. 861 Oct 31

Several epidemiological studies have suggested that increased iron stores are associated with increased atherosclerotic events. In order to test the hypothesis that decreasing the vascular level of iron slows lesion growth, we examined the effects of the iron chelator Desferal (72 mg/kg/day, 5 days/week) on atherosclerosis and lesion iron content in cholesterol-fed New Zealand White rabbits. Rabbits were fed with a 1% w/w cholesterol diet for either 8 weeks (and for the last 5 weeks injected daily with Desferal) or 12 weeks (and for the last 9 weeks injected with Desferal). Controls were injected with saline. A significant reduction in average lesion area (p = 0.038) was observed in the 12-week treated animals compared with the 12-week controls. The average lesion iron level of the 12-week treated animals (58 ppm dry wt) was also significantly lower (p = 0.030) than in 12-week control animals (95 ppm dry wt), as measured using nuclear microscopy with the combination of scanning transmission ion microscopy, Rutherford back-scattering spectroscopy, and particle-induced X-ray emission. No reduction in lesion area or iron content was observed in the 8-week treated animals compared with controls, and no change in lesion zinc concentration was observed for either group. Our data strengthen the concept that iron contributes to the early stages of the development of atherosclerosis.
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PMID:The iron chelator desferrioxamine inhibits atherosclerotic lesion development and decreases lesion iron concentrations in the cholesterol-fed rabbit. 1580 18