Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0042373 (vascular disease)
 17,070 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

There is a substantial body of evidence showing that moderate alcohol consumption is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. One of the factors thought to contribute to this reduction in risk is an increase in the level of high-density lipoproteins (HDL) correlated with alcohol consumption. However, HDL levels are elevated in heavy drinkers, but their risk of vascular disease is greater compared with that of moderate drinkers. Ethanol at concentrations observed in heavy drinkers and alcoholics may directly act on HDL and apolipoproteins and in turn modify cholesterol efflux. In this paper, we show that ethanol significantly inhibited cholesterol efflux from fibroblasts to HDL and to apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) complexed with phosphatidylcholine (PC). Ethanol significantly inhibited binding of PC to apoA-I, inhibited incorporation of cholesterol only when apoA-I contained PC, and did not alter incorporation of cholesterol into HDL. ApoA-I structure was altered by ethanol as monitored by steady-state fluorescence polarization of tryptophan residues. The absence of ethanol effects on incorporation of cholesterol into HDL versus inhibition of cholesterol incorporation into the apoA-I-PC complex suggests that the effects of ethanol on cholesterol efflux mediated by HDL involve interaction with the cell surface and that efflux mediated by the apoA-I-PC complex is a combination of aqueous diffusion and contact with the cell surface. In addition, effects of ethanol on apoA-I suggest that pre-beta-HDL or lipid-free apoA-I may be more perturbed by ethanol than mature HDL, and such effects may be pathophysiological with respect to the process of reverse cholesterol transport in heavy drinkers and alcoholics.
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PMID:Cholesterol efflux to high-density lipoproteins and apolipoprotein A-I phosphatidylcholine complexes is inhibited by ethanol: role of apolipoprotein structure and cooperative interaction of phosphatidylcholine and cholesterol. 1095 52

Adaptive changes in gene expression are thought to contribute to dependence, addiction and other behavioral responses to chronic ethanol abuse. DNA array studies provide a nonbiased detection of networks of gene expression changes, allowing insight into functional consequences and mechanisms of such molecular responses. We used oligonucleotide arrays to study nearly 6000 genes in human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells exposed to chronic ethanol. A set of 42 genes had consistently increased or decreased mRNA abundance after 3 days of ethanol treatment. Groups of genes related to norepinephrine production, glutathione metabolism, and protection against apoptosis were identified. Genes involved in catecholamine metabolism are of special interest because of the role of this pathway in mediating ethanol withdrawal symptoms (physical dependence). Ethanol treatment elevated dopamine beta-hydroxylase (DBH, EC 1.14.17.1) mRNA and protein levels and increased releasable norepinephrine in SH-SY5Y cultures. Acute ethanol also increased DBH mRNA levels in mouse adrenal gland, suggesting in vivo functional consequences for ethanol regulation of DBH. In SH-SY5Y cells, ethanol also decreased mRNA and secreted protein levels for monocyte chemotactic protein 1, an effect that could contribute to the protective role of moderate ethanol consumption in atherosclerotic vascular disease. Finally, we identified a subset of genes similarly regulated by both ethanol and dibutyryl-cAMP treatment in SH-SY5Y cells. This suggests that ethanol and cAMP signaling share mechanistic features in regulating a subset of ethanol-responsive genes. Our findings offer new insights regarding possible molecular mechanisms underlying behavioral responses or medical consequences of ethanol consumption and alcoholism.
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PMID:Expression profiling of neural cells reveals specific patterns of ethanol-responsive gene expression. 1109