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)

EDRF is a potent, endogenous vasodilator that is produced and released from endothelial cells and subsequently causes the relaxation of VSM through the activation of soluble guanylate cyclase and an increase in VSM cyclic GMP. Structurally, EDRF is likely to be NO or a related nitrogen oxide-containing compound. It is synthesized in endothelial and other cell types from L-arginine by a calcium-calmodulin and NADPH-dependent enzyme. Its action is very similar to the nitrovasodilators that act directly on VSM. EDRF is present in all vascular beds, large and small vessels, and in a wide range of species. Its role in human vascular physiology and pathophysiology is just beginning to be understood. EDRF is a potent endogenous vasodilator and inhibitor of platelet aggregation and adhesion. Its activity is impaired in hypertension and atherosclerosis, and its absence due to endothelial damage may play a role in cerebral and coronary vasospasm. It is a mediator of flow-dependent vasodilation, and its inhibition by hypoxia may contribute to the hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstrictor response. Endothelial cell damage and impairment of EDRF production may also contribute to acute and chronic pulmonary hypertension. A further understanding of the chemical nature and synthetic pathways of EDRF should lead to the production of analogs and antagonists, which may play an important role in future treatments for atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, angina, hypertension, and other vascular diseases. The recent realization that EDRF serves as the second messenger for guanylate cyclase activation and cyclic GMP production in a variety of cell types outside of the cardiovascular system, including renal and respiratory epithelium, cerebellar neurons, macrophages, and adrenocytes, suggests even broader implications. The importance of EDRF to the anesthesiologist may go beyond an understanding of its role in cardiovascular physiological and pathophysiological states. Initial studies have shown that the endothelium may play a role in mediating the vascular actions of anesthetics, and that anesthetics can inhibit the production, release, or action of EDRF. How are these interactions mediated? Are there significant differences between anesthetics with regard to their effects on EDRF? Is there a clinically significant effect of anesthetics on basal activity of EDRF, or only in response to exogenous stimulation? Conversely, it is important to determine if alterations in endothelial cell function by various disease states such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, adult respiratory distress syndrome, cerebral vasospasm, and others cause changes in the vascular actions of anesthetics. The potential interactions of anesthetics with EDRF production and action in cell types other than the endothelium have not yet been explored.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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PMID:Endothelium-derived relaxing factor: basic review and clinical implications. 186 89

Advances in regulation by secondary messengers of Ca2+ level in cardiomyocyte and vascular smooth muscle cell cytosols with special reference to the major differences in regulatory effects in cells of the both types are reviewed. The effects of cAMP, cGMP, Ca2+, calmodulin, diacylglycerol and polyphosphoinositides on the Ca(2+)-channel, Ca(2+)-ATPase, plasmalemma, sarcoplasmic reticulum and outer membrane Na+/Ca2+ uniporter function are considered. Compartmentation of secondary messengers and protein kinase in cardiac and vascular smooth muscle cells should be taken into consideration during extrapolation of in vitro data to an in situ situation. The feasible role of impaired phosphorylation of membrane-bound proteins of cardiac and vascular smooth muscle cells in cardiac insufficiency and atherosclerosis is discussed.
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PMID:[Second messengers in heart cells and smooth muscle vessels]. 191 66

Heavy metal cations Cd2+, Pb2+, and Hg2+ were added to substitute for Ca2+ in culture media to study their effect on the relationship between CaM and the proliferation of cultured rabbit aortic smooth muscle cells (ASMC). It was found that all the heavy metal cations studied stimulated the proliferation of ASMC in varying degrees, increased the CaM content in cells at late G1 stage and decreased the activity of cAMP PDE. These results suggest that the adverse effect of heavy metals may be related to the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and hypertensive disease.
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PMID:The stimulatory effect of heavy metal cations on proliferation of aortic smooth muscle cells. 216 Dec 39

According to the response to injury hypothesis, endothelial migration and repair may play an important role in the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis. In this study, we examined the regulatory mechanisms of endothelial cell migration in vitro, using cultured endothelial cells from fetal bovine aortas. Dibutyryl cyclic AMP, 8-bromo cyclic GMP, and theophylline (each at concentrations of 10(-4) to 10(-3) M) inhibited the migration of endothelial cells. Migration was not significantly affected by the Ca2+ channel blockers diltiazem (10(-6) to 10(-4) M) and nicardipine (10(-6) to 10(-5) M) or by La3+ (10(-4) to 10(-3) M), an inorganic Ca2+-antagonist, TMB-8 (10(-6) to 5 x 10(-5) M), an intracellular Ca2+ blocker, or the calmodulin inhibitors W-7 (10(-6) to 5 x 10(-5) M) and trifluoperazine (10(-7) to 10(-5) M). At the extracellular Ca2+ concentrations of less than 0.2 mEq/l, the migration was inhibited significantly. In addition, migration was markedly suppressed by colchicine (10(-8) to 10(-5) M), an inhibitor of tubulin polymerization, and by cytochalasin B (10(-7) to 10(-5) M), an inhibitor of actin polymerization. These results suggest that cyclic nucleotides, such as cyclic AMP and GMP, may regulate the migration of vascular endothelial cells. Although a low concentration of extracellular Ca2+ is essential to their migration, participation of the intracellular Ca2+-calmodulin system was not evident in this study. It appears that the cytoskeletal system, including microtubules and microfilaments, is involved in the mechanisms of migration.
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PMID:Vascular endothelial cell migration in vitro roles of cyclic nucleotides, calcium ion and cytoskeletal system. 255 95

This preliminary note describes the preventive action of trifluoperazine against cholesterol-induced atherosclerosis in rabbits. Although this drug had no significant effect on the elevated levels of serum lipids induced by the atherogenic diet, it completely inhibited the initiation of atherosclerotic lesions in rabbits fed atherogenic diets. Based on these findings, we propose that calmodulin and protein kinase 'C' may play a key role in the development of the atherosclerotic process.
Atherosclerosis 1987 Apr
PMID:Atherogenesis. Preventive action of trifluoperazine. 360 18

1. Modified lipoproteins have been implicated to play a significant role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. In view of this we studied the fate and mechanism of uptake in vivo of acetylated human low-density lipoprotein (acetyl-LDL). Injected intravenously into rats, acetyl-LDL is rapidly cleared from the blood. At 10min after intravenous injection, 83% of the injected dose is recovered in liver. Separation of the liver into a parenchymal and non-parenchymal cell fraction indicates that the non-parenchymal cells contain a 30-50-fold higher amount of radioactivity per mg of cell protein than the parenchymal cells. 2. When incubated in vitro, freshly isolated non-parenchymal cells show a cell-association of acetyl-LDL that is 13-fold higher per mg of cell protein than with parenchymal cells, and the degradation of acetyl-LDL is 50-fold higher. The degradation of acetyl-LDL by both cell types is blocked by chloroquine (10-50mum) and NH(4)Cl (10mm), indicating that it occurs in the lysosomes. Competition experiments indicate the presence of a specific acetyl-LDL receptor and degradation pathway, which is different from that for native LDL. 3. Degradation of acetyl-LDL by non-parenchymal cells is completely blocked by trifluoperazine, penfluridol and chlorpromazine with a relative effectivity that corresponds to their effectivity as calmodulin inhibitors. The high-affinity degradation of human LDL is also blocked by trifluoperazine (100mum). The inhibition of the processing of acetyl-LDL occurs at a site after the binding-internalization process and before intralysosomal degradation. It is suggested that calmodulin, or a target with a similar sensitivity to calmodulin inhibitors, is involved in the transport of the endocytosed acetyl-LDL to or into the lysosomes. 4. It is concluded that the liver, and in particular non-parenchymal liver cells, are in vivo the major site for acetyl-LDL uptake. This efficient uptake and degradation mechanism for acetyl-LDL in the liver might form in vivo the major protection system against the potential pathogenic action of modified lipoproteins.
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PMID:Processing of acetylated human low-density lipoprotein by parenchymal and non-parenchymal liver cells. Involvement of calmodulin? 613 Jul 61

We have previously reported that 12-L-hydroxy-5,8,10,14-eicosatetraenoic acid (12-HETE), a 12-lipoxygenase product of arachidonic acid in platelets, is a potent chemoattractant for rat aortic smooth muscle cells. In the present study, the mechanism involved in 12-HETE-associated smooth muscle cell migration was investigated in relation to calcium mobilization in the cells. Migration of smooth muscle cells was measured by a filter membrane technique in modified Boyden chambers. Smooth muscle cell migration induced by 12-HETE increased with the increase of extracellular Ca2+ concentration and became maximal at the physiological Ca2+ concentration of 1.25 mM. The calcium ionophore A23187, at concentrations of 0.2 and 2.0 microM, significantly stimulated cell migration. Nicardipine, a potent calcium-entry blocker, significantly inhibited 12-HETE-associated smooth muscle cell migration at concentrations from 10(-9) to 10(-5) M. Concentrations of trifluoperazine from 10(-9) to 10(-5) M and W-7 at 10(-5) M, which are specific inhibitors of calmodulin, also significantly inhibited cell migration induced by 12-HETE. Cytochalasin B at 1.0 and 10 microM, and colchicine at 0.1 and 1.0 microM concentrations drastically inhibited cell migration, indicating that actin-containing microfilaments and microtubules are involved in smooth muscle cell migration. These findings indicated that the stimulation of smooth muscle cell migration by 12-HETE is a highly calcium-dependent process and suggest that 12-HETE might act at the initial stage of smooth muscle cell migration through enhancing calcium influx through plasma membrane and thus stimulating cell migration.
Atherosclerosis 1983 Mar
PMID:Calcium dependency of aortic smooth muscle cell migration induced by 12-L-hydroxy-5,8,10,14-eicosatetraenoic acid. Effects of A23187, nicardipine and trifluoperazine. 640 58

Drugs that inhibit platelet activation may prevent thrombosis and atherosclerosis. The mechanism by which coumarins, heparin, calmodulin inhibitors, calcium entry blockers, drugs that interfere with cyclic AMP function and arachidonate metabolism, and several other compounds might achieve this protection, is discussed. Only a few of these drugs (acetylsalicylic acid, dipyridamole, sulfinpyrazone) have been tested for clinical efficacy in man. So far the results of these studies have revealed modest protection from infarction and other cardiovascular diseases.
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PMID:Agents interfering with the platelet-vessel wall interaction. 642 90

Estrogen is known to retard the development of atherosclerosis and to work in the brain, but the mechanism of hormonal action is completely unknown. We investigated the effect of estrogen on the activity of neuronal constitutive nitric oxide synthase (NNOS). A low concentration of estrogen (10(-10)(-7) M) enhanced the activity of homogenates of the cytosol fraction of rabbit cerebellums and also that of partially purified NNOS, and high dose (10(-6)(-5) M) attenuated them. The study using estrogen receptor antagonists, tamoxifen, clomiphene, and ICI182780 suggested that estrogen receptor did not relate significantly to those effects of 17 beta-estradiol. 17 alpha-estradiol or progesterone did not change significantly it in low doses, although moderately inhibited it in high doses. Estrogen enhanced the fluorescence of dansyl-calmodulin in low doses and attenuated it in high doses, suggesting that estrogen affects Ca(2+)-calmodulin directly. This study demonstrated that estrogen has a biphasic effect on the activity of NNOS through a Ca(2+)-calmodulin.
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PMID:Biphasic effect of estrogen on neuronal constitutive nitric oxide synthase via Ca(2+)-calmodulin dependent mechanism. 752 39

During the last decade, a multitude of experimental arguments have led to the concept that EDRF is nitric oxide (NO), a messenger not only involved in the control of vasomotor tone but also in vascular homeostasis, neuronal and immunological functions. Regardless of its origin, endogenous NO is produced through the conversion of L-arginine to L-citrulline by NO-synthase (NOS) from which several isoforms have recently been isolated, purified and cloned. NOS-type I (isolated from brain) and type III (isolated from endothelial cells) are termed "constitutive-NOS" and produce picomolar levels of NO from which only a small fraction elicits physiological responses. These isoforms are regulated by Ca(2+)-calmodulin with NADPH, FAD/FMN and tetrahydrobiopterin as co-factors and reveal a high degree of homology with the amino-acid sequence of cytochrome P450 reductase within the C-terminal domain. Functionally, neuronal-NOS type I is important in neurotransmission (modulation of NMDA receptor), the central control of vascular homeostasis and possibly learning and memory. In the peripheral nervous system, NOS appears to be linked to nonadrenergic noncholinergic (NANC) neuronal pathways. Endothelial-NOS type III is essential for the control of vascular tone in response to the release of endogenous mediators, although shear stress is the major trigger of endothelial-NOS activity under physiological conditions. NOS-type III also contributes to the prevention of abnormal platelet aggregation. NOS-types II and IV (isolated from macrophages) are Ca(2+)-calmodulin independent and are termed "inducible-NOS" since their activation is only promoted under pathophysiological situations where macrophages exert cytotoxic effects in response to cytokines. In contrast with NOS-types I and III, activation of NOS-type II in these cells induces the formation of nanomolar levels of NO which act as a defense mechanism of the immune system. Dysfunctions of the L-arginine-NO pathway have been characterized in multiple diseases (atherosclerosis, hypertension, diabetes, sepsis, cerebral ischemia, etc) and the design of more selective activators/inhibitors of NOS isoforms is a new challenge for the understanding of their pathophysiology and treatment.
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PMID:Nitric oxide: an ubiquitous messenger. 829 80


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