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)

The mechanical properties of the abdominal aorta were investigated non-invasively in 30 patients with aortic aneurysm and 11 with peripheral arterial disease. The distensibility of the aorta was measured using M-mode ultrasonography, permitting non-invasive assessment of the pressure--strain elastic modulus or aortic stiffness, Ep. The median Ep value increased from 4.0 N/cm2 in control subjects in their third decade of life (n = 10) to 10.4 N/cm2 in middle age (n = 11) to 14.0 N/cm2 in the elderly (n = 13). In the presence of a normal diameter, peripheral arterial disease with aortic atherosclerosis had little effect on aortic stiffness, median Ep being 16.0 N/cm2. Aneurysmal dilatation was associated with a significant increase in aortic stiffness, median Ep being 31.3 N/cm2 (P < 0.001). For aortas of normal diameter, Ep was at all ages dependent on mean arterial pressure. In patients with aortic aneurysms there was no clear relationship between Ep and mean arterial pressure or aortic diameter. Of the patients studied, 15 underwent aortic reconstruction; increasing aortic stiffness (log Ep) was associated with a decreased medial elastin content of the aortic biopsy (r = -0.63, P < 0.02). This study demonstrates the marked stiffness or inelasticity of dilated or aneurysmal vessels, part of which is attributable to the loss of elastin.
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PMID:Mechanical properties of the aneurysmal aorta. 851 14

In this paper we demonstrate that near infrared Fourier transform Raman spectroscopy provides unprecedented biochemical information about the extent of atherosclerosis in human aorta. In particular, elastin, collagen, cholesterol, cholesterol esters, lipids, carotenoids, and calcium apatite deposits all can be discerned by using this technique, permitting study of each stage in the disease process. Additionally, these moieties can be detected over 1.5 mm below the irradiated surface of the tissue, possibly allowing extraction of three-dimensional information about the histology of atherosclerotic plaques. We propose that this technique may be utilized for in situ optical histochemical analysis of atherosclerosis in particular and human disease in general.
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PMID:In situ optical histochemistry of human artery using near infrared Fourier transform Raman spectroscopy. 156 40

The effect of elastin peptides (kappa-elastin) was investigated on murine fibroblasts. The data indicate that elastin peptides increase the activities of antioxidant enzymes detoxifying free radicals and increase the lipid peroxide concentration within the cell. These results suggest that the influence of elastin peptides on oxygen metabolism may be related to their activities in vivo following elastin degradation and can contribute to their role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.
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PMID:Effect of elastin peptides on the activities of antioxidant enzymes in fibroblasts. 159 27

There is a great resemblance in the sequence of events that take place in the pathological development of intimal thickening, so called arteriosclerosis and the formation of intimal cushions in both the normal ductus arteriosus (DA) and the persistent ductus arteriosus (PDA). The human DA was used as a model to study the changes in the extracellular matrix during this process with immunohistochemistry. The formation of intimal cushions was studied in 4 normal fetal DA, 4 normal mature DA and 3 persistent DA. The process of intimal thickening in the fetus starts in the second trimester of pregnancy with an accumulation of glycosaminoglycans in the subendothelial region (SER), accompanied by separation of endothelial cells from the internal elastic lamina and followed by migration of smooth muscle cells into the subendothelial region. This phenomenon was also observed in the mature DA in the neonate, indicating that cushion formation is a continuous process. Intimal cushions had also developed in the persistent DA, although they were morphologically different from the cushions found in the normal mature DA. It was remarkable that two elastic lamellae could be distinguished: one at the original site on the borderline of intimal cushion and media and the other in a subendothelial position. The endothelial cells were firmly attached to this subendothelial lamina, which was wrapped in the basal lamina components laminin and type IV collagen. The main morphological difference between the normal mature DA and the persistent DA is the close relation between endothelial cells and the subendothelial elastic lamina, suggesting an altered elastin metabolism in the PDA. PGI2 synthase was increased in the wall of both the normal and persistent DA as compared with the aorta. It may be related to a role of PGI2 in the formation of intimal cushions.
Atherosclerosis 1992 Mar
PMID:Formation of intimal cushions in the ductus arteriosus as a model for vascular intimal thickening. An immunohistochemical study of changes in extracellular matrix components. 159 2

Effect of skim milk on progression of atherosclerosis was studied in cholesterol-fed rabbits. Rabbits were given a high cholesterol food (0.5%) with skim milk powder (16%) or no milk (control group). At 12 wk, the plasma cholesterol level was significantly higher in the control group (1605 mg/d1) than in the milk-fed group (1146 mg/d1). The contents of esterified cholesterol and elastin in the aorta were higher in the control group than in the milk-fed group by 28 an 94 per cent, respectively. The differences between the two groups in the contents of aortic triacylglycerols, mucopolysaccharides, collagen and unesterified cholesterol were not significant. The difference in sudanophilic area in the aorta between the control (35%) and the milk-fed groups (31%) was not significant. However, intimal proliferation and medial involvement in the aortic lesions were more severe in the control group. These findings suggest that skim milk can slow down the process of cholesterol induced atherogenesis.
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PMID:Effect of skim milk on progression of atherosclerosis in cholesterol-fed rabbits. 159 32

Aortic elastins, isolated from 30 humans of different ages, were purified by alkaline extraction, and separated into two groups depending on the presence of atherosclerotic plaques and calcification (grades 0 and 1). It was confirmed that the severity of atherosclerosis increases significantly with age (P less than 0.001) and elastin content decreases with atherosclerosis (P less than 0.001). The hydrolysis of the aortic elastins using pancreatic porcine elastase (PPE) was studied. It was observed that increased elastolytic activities are connected with severity of atherosclerosis (P less than 0.001) and both Vm and Km apparent kinetic parameters are affected (P less than 0.001). Correlation tests have shown that enzymatic hydrolysis is significantly modified by cholesterol (P less than 0.05), calcium (P less than 0.001) and magnesium concentrations (P less than 0.01) but only cholesterol changes significantly Vm and Km parameters.
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PMID:Human aortic elastin from normal individuals and atherosclerotic patients: lipid and cation contents; susceptibility to elastolysis. 177 63

Markers of elastin metabolism were estimated in sera of children from families with a high risk of atherosclerosis (ATH). There was no statistically significant difference in the serum elastase-like activity between the groups studied. The concentration of elastin-derived peptides was statistically significantly elevated in the ATH group. Anti-elastin antibodies were found to be present in 73% of ATH children, while they circulated in 5% of control subjects only. Antibodies observed in the youngest ATH children were of the IgM type, suggesting the initial stage of the autoimmunization to elastin. The data obtained in this study may indicate an enhanced metabolism of elastin in ATH children.
Atherosclerosis 1991 Dec
PMID:Evaluation of elastin metabolism in children from families with high risk of atherosclerosis. 178 3

Immunological and microbial factors may lead to the formation of atherosclerotic lesions. Cross immune reactions between aortic kappa-2-elastin and antisera against some antigens of Gram-negative bacteria--Salmonella and Escherichia coli--were studied using the dot-immunobinding assay. Positive results were obtained with antisera against Salmonella AO, BO, CO, EO, HM and Escherichia coli OK(A). Among immunological mechanisms leading to atherosclerosis cross immunoreactivity of aortic antigens with antimicrobial antibodies should be taken into consideration.
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PMID:Cross immunoreactivity of aortic kappa-2-elastin with some antibacterial antisera. 179 75

Anti-elastin antibodies which seem to play an important role in atherogenesis were studied in serum of rabbits fed with a cholesterol-rich diet using the dot-immunobinding assay. These antibodies appeared only in rabbits of the experimental group after the sixth week of the experiment and a progressive rise in their titer was observed. The concentration of total serum cholesterol and the elastase-like activity in aorta which were determined additionally showed a statistically significant increase of both analyzed parameters in animals from the experimental group when compared to the controls. Anti-elastin antibodies seem to reflect an increased elastin turnover during the induction of experimental atherosclerosis.
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PMID:Anti-elastin antibodies in rabbits fed an atherogenic diet. 185 91

In this study, the fluorescent morphological structures in normal coronary artery, normal aorta, and atherosclerotic aorta were histochemically identified and spectroscopically characterized in situ using ultraviolet-excited microspectrofluorimetry. Excitation wavelengths of 290 nm and 310/312 nm were employed to observe two distinct fluorescence bands, with peak emission wavelengths near 335 nm and 380 nm, respectively. Emission of the short wavelength 335 nm band, previously assigned to tryptophan residues in tryptophan-containing proteins, was observed from all the morphological structures in the vessel walls and was isolated in groups of smooth muscle cells in aorta and coronary artery media. The long wavelength 380 nm band was assigned to distinct fluorophores associated with the structural proteins collagen and elastin and was observed in collagen fibers and elastic fibers, respectively. The corresponding morphological structures in normal aorta, normal coronary artery, and atherosclerotic aorta exhibited similar fluorescence lineshapes. In atherosclerotic plaque, a distinct fluorescence band, peaking near 370 nm, was observed in the emission from both ceroid granules and necrotic core. Using a simple, quantitative model, differing contributions of collagen, elastin, and tryptophan-containing protein fluorescence were shown to account for over 95% of the emission from the intima, media, and adventitia layers of non-necrotic aorta and coronary artery.
Atherosclerosis 1991 May
PMID:Characterization of the fluorescent morphological structures in human arterial wall using ultraviolet-excited microspectrofluorimetry. 187 5


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