Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 11, Issue 17, 2005

Stress echocardiography is the combination of 2D echocardiography with a physical, pharmacological or electrical stress. The diagnostic end point for the detection of myocardial ischemia is the induction of a transient worsening in regional function during stress. Stress echocardiography provides similar diagnostic and prognostic accuracy as radionuclide stress perfusion imaging, but at a substantially lower cost, without e Read More

Among the available imaging techniques, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is gaining an increasing role in the cardiologic setting because its specific properties such as the use of non ionising energies, the natural strong contrast between different tissues, the absence of spatial limitations, the good spatial and temporal resolution, the reduced operator dependency. To further improve the images quality and the histopatholo Read More

The vascular endothelium has been long viewed as a simply physical separation between blood and tissue [1]. Over the last two decades a consistent bulk of data demonstrated that endothelium is a widely distributed organ, with a variable degree of heterogeneity among and within tissues [2, 3] and deeply involved in vascular physiology and pathophysiology, rather than a cellophane-like membrane that lines the circ Read More

Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) is an endogenously occurring methylarginine that inhibits nitric oxide synthesis. Plasma levels of methylarginines increase in renal failure and certain cardiovascular pathologies, and in patients with end stage renal failure the level of ADMA predicts the risk of cardiovascular events and overall mortality. The object of this review is to describe the mechanisms of ADMA synthes Read More

Elevated plasma homocyst(e)ine levels have prothrombotic and proatherosclerotic effects. Data from prospective studies indicated that plasma homocyst(e)ine acts as a modest independent predictor of coronary heart disease. At present, no conclusive data are available on the possible interaction between hyperhomocyst(e)inemia and hypertension and the occurrence of cardiovascular events. Recent longitudinal studie Read More

There is growing evidence that several biochemical constituents of cigarette smoking play a significant role in the development and progression of heart and blood vessel damage, especially atherosclerotic lesions. Some biochemical markers of tobacco smoke may be determined in blood and urine samples. They are also the main responsible factors of cardiovascular harm. Nicotine and its major metabolite, cotinine, carbon m Read More

Lipid markers are well established predictors of vascular disease. The most frequently measured lipid variables are total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides. In this review we consider the predictive value of these variables and other more specialised related tests. We also discuss the effect of lipid altering drugs on these markers. The interaction of other vascula Read More

The emerging field of molecular and genomic imaging is providing new opportunities to visualize and quantify the biology of living organisms. To reach such goal all the major imaging modalities concur to this new field, each with its mechanism for generating contrast and with its spatial resolution and specificity. This review deals with a brief introduction to the molecular imaging principles and reports on the state-of-the- Read More

The interest for the therapeutic potential of aldosterone antagonists in essential hypertension comes from the recently discovered nonclassical pathways of aldosterone actions, above all the presence of extra-adrenal aldosterone production and the discovery of aldosterone's proinflammatory and profibrotic actions. The review begins with the discussion of experimental studies on animals, demonstrating the r Read More

G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) are a major class of membrane proteins belonging to a continuously growing superfamily. These receptors play a critical role in signal transduction, and are among the most important pharmacological drug targets. The first structural model for the GPCR superfamily was the bacterial protein bacteriorhodopsin with its characteristic seven transmembrane (TM) helical architecture. The visu Read More

Most hearing loss results from lesions of the sensory cells and/or neurons of the auditory portion of the inner ear. To date, only the cochlear implantation offers long-term hearing-aid benefit, but still with limited performance and expensive cost. While the underlying causes of deafness are not clear, the death or hair cells and/or neurons and the loss of neuronal contacts are key pathological features. Pinpointing molecul Read More