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)

Rhubarb has been used to decrease plasma cholesterol levels and reduce vascular endothelial cellular damage in recent years. However, it is not known whether reported lipid-lowering effects are associated with the improvement of endothelial function. This work aimed to elucidate the therapeutic effects of rhubarb on serum lipids and brachial artery endothelial function, as well as to investigate the relationship between them. One hundred and three patients with atherosclerosis were randomly divided into two groups: patients in the control and the trial group received a placebo and rhubarb, respectively, in addition to the 6 month baseline therapy. Serum lipids and brachial artery endothelial functions were measured in all patients before and after treatment. A total of 83 patients completed the 6-month follow-up protocol. Serum total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in the trial group decreased significantly and LDL-C was significantly lower than that in the control group. Flow-mediated dilation (FMD) in the trial group was significantly higher after treatment in comparison to the baseline and to the control group. Improvement in FMD correlated with the decreased magnitude of TC and LDL-C levels. The results obtained appeared to confirm that rhubarb significantly improves endothelial function mainly due to lipid-lowering effects in patients with atherosclerosis.
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PMID:Treatment with rhubarb improves brachial artery endothelial function in patients with atherosclerosis: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. 1770 25

Atherosclerosis, a chronic inflammatory disease associated with high morbidity and mortality, is characterized by the accumulation of foam cells in the arterial wall. It has long been acknowledged that the formation of foam cells is caused by excess lipid uptake and abnormal cholesterol metabolism function. And increasing evidence shows that inhibiting foam cell formation is a promising way to suppress the development of atherosclerotic lesions. In addition to excess foam cells accumulation, inflammation is another major contributor of atherosclerotic lesions. Recently, macrophage polarization has been demonstrated to play a vital role in the regulation of inflammatory response. Generally, macrophages mainly polarized into two phenotypes: either classically activated pro-inflammatory M1 or alternatively activated anti-inflammatory M2. And targeting macrophage polarization has been considered as a feasible approach to prevent the development of atherosclerosis. At present, the anti-atherosclerosis drugs mainly classified into two types: lipid-lowering drugs and anti-inflammatory drugs. A large part of those drugs belong to western medicine, and various side effects are unavoidable. Interestingly, in recent years, Traditional Chinese medicine has attracted growing attention because of its good efficacy and low negative effects. Rhubarb (called Da Huang in Chinese) is a famous folk medicine with a wide spectrum of pharmacological effects, such as lipid-lowering and anti-inflammatory effects. In this review, we summarized current findings about the regulatory effects of Rhubarb on foam cell formation and macrophage polarization, with emphasis on the molecular mechanisms of action that have been revealed during the past two decades, to better understand its pivotal role in the treatment and prevention of atherosclerosis.
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PMID:Targeting foam cell formation and macrophage polarization in atherosclerosis: The Therapeutic potential of rhubarb. 3276 36