Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 10, Issue 20, 2004

In this article we overview the most important antiarrhythmic and positive inotropic mechanisms based on pharmacological modification of an ion channel or a transport protein in the surface membrane of cardiac myocytes. First we briefly characterize the ion currents mediated by these proteins in atrial and ventricular cells. Since the level of expression of ion channels is markedly altered in various types of chronic heart Read More

It is not well known but the actions of opioid receptor agonist and antagonist drugs have not been well characterized in the heart and cardiovascular system. Under normal physiological conditions, opioid receptors have a limited role in the regulation of the cardiovascular system. Instead the primary focus of opioid receptor research, for many years, relates to the characterization of the actions as analgesics in the Read More

Since Kerr described programmed cell death (apoptosis) as a process distinct from necrosis, there have been many studies of apoptosis in disease, especially of immunological origin. Because cardiac myocytes are terminally differentiated cells, they have typically been assumed to die exclusively by necrosis. However, during the last decade this view has been challenged by several studies demonstrating that a significa Read More

The cardiovascular toxicity of older generation of tricyclic antidepressants (e.g. imipramine, desipramine, amitriptyline, clomipramine) and neuroleptics (e.g. haloperidol, droperidol, thioridazine, pimozide) is well established. These drugs inhibit cardiovascular Na+, Ca2+ and K+ channels often leading to life-threatening arrhythmia. To overcome the toxicity of old generation of antidepressants and antipsychotics, selective Read More

The natriuretic peptides are a family of widely distributed polypeptide mediators that exert a range of actions in several body systems. In cardiovascular homeostasis, the endocrine roles of the cardiac-derived atrial and B-type natriuretic peptide (ANP and BNP) in regulating central fluid volume and blood pressure have been recognised for two decades. However, there is a growing realisation that natriuretic peptide Read More

Gastrointestinal (GI) smooth muscle cell activity is controlled by contractile cholinergic neurons and relaxant non-adrenergic non-cholinergic (NANC) neurons in the myenteric plexus between the circular and longitudinal muscle layer. Decreased or increased NANC relaxation might be involved in the pathophysiology of functional GI motility disorders. Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) and nitric oxide (NO) are the primary inhibi Read More

Regulation of myometrial functions during gestation, labor and birth are in the forefront of research in reproductive sciences. The complexity of the problem is reflected by our scant understanding of the intimate cellular and molecular events underlying these phenomena, despite extensive efforts spanning several decades. Unlike other smooth muscles, the myometrium is, to a large extent, under hormonal control. Of these, Read More

Human arylamine N-acetyltransferases 1 and 2 (NAT1 and NAT2) are polymorphic phase II xenobioticmetabolising enzymes (XME) that acetylate arylamine compounds. They therefore play an important role in the detoxication and / or metabolic activation of certain therapeutic drugs, occupational chemicals and carcinogens. Although the use of the term “xenobiotic” implies that XME form a separate and distinct class Read More

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a cytokine whose multipotent actions are mediated by c-Met receptor. This review focuses on effects of HGF on myocardial infarction (MI) and heart failure. Circulating concentrations of HGF and myocardial concentrations of HGF and c-Met mRNA and protein are substantially increased following acute MI. HGF has been shown to be cardioprotective towards acute cardiac ischemia-reperfusion i Read More