Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 24, Issue 25, 2018

Background: Ischemic heart disease has long been considered to be exlusively caused by stenosis or occlusion. However, the coronary microcirculation too may play an important role in ischemic conditions. Also, the crucial role of microvessels in not only regulating blood flow on a local level but also mediating vascular permeability or inflammatory responses has been recognized. Objective: To review important phy Read More

Myocardial ischemia is the consequence of an unbalance between coronary flow that can be achieved and myocardial metabolic needs. Pathological state of both epicardial and intramyocardial vessels may be responsible for inducing ischemia. However, revascularization decision should be based on the severity of each epicardial lesion that is evaluated. There are different diagnostic tools that may help for the eva Read More

Vasospastic angina is an important cause of chest pain due to coronary artery vasospasm that is related to poor quality of life and can lead to myocardial infarction, arrhythmias and death. Since its first description as “Prinzmetal or variant angina” which was believed to be a focal spam that occurred in non-obstructed epicardial coronary arteries, physician and researchers were gradually confronted with the clinical realit Read More

In various metabolic diseases, both the coronary circulation and cardiac metabolism are altered. Here we summarize the effects of a condition called hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) - which can develop due to genetic and/or environmental causes - on the function of coronary microvessels and heart. This metabolic disease is underappreciated, yet even mild or moderate elevation of plasma concentrations of homocystein ( Read More

Dyslipidemia is widely accepted as one of the major risk factors in cardiovascular disease mainly due to its contribution in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis in medium-sized and large arteries. However, it has become increasingly accepted that high-cholesterol levels can also adversely affect the microvasculature prior to the development of overt atherosclerosis. Moreover, hypercholesterolemia has shown, in preclinical Read More

Timely delivered coronary revascularization with no residual anatomical stenosis does not always lead to prompt restoration of anterograde coronary flow and complete myocardial reperfusion. This condition is known as coronary no-reflow and is associated with major clinical adverse events and poor prognosis. The pathophysiology of no-reflow phenomenon is still poorly understood. Proposed mechanisms include dist Read More

The no-reflow phenomenon refers to the post-percutaneous coronary intervention condition in which, despite re-establishing epicardial coronary vessel patency, the flow to the previously ischemic myocardium is markedly reduced. When it does occur, it attenuates the beneficial effect of reperfusion therapy and substantial regions of the myocardium fail to receive adequate perfusion. The pathophysiology of this phenome Read More

Myocardial contrast echocardiography has been used in clinical arena and for scientific research extensively in the last fifteen years. This non-invasive, bed-side and radiation free imaging technique offers several important possibilities: better delineation of the endocardial border, more reliable assessment of the left ventricular wall motion abnormalities, both in rest and during stress, and myocardial perfusion evaluation Read More

Functional tests used in the catheterization laboratory have emerged as a very important adjunctive tool to coronary angiography that can identify patients with myocardial blood flow impairment. Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR) measurement is highly recommended for detection of ischemia-related coronary lesion(s) when objective evidence of vessel-related ischemia is not available. Recently, the much simpler instantaneous Read More

The idea of coronary microcirculation playing a role in the pathophysiology of heart failure dates from decades ago, with authors hypothesizing that structural and functional alterations in the coronary microcirculation could potentially contribute to heart failure. It is known that in a wide range of primary cardiomyopathies, from dilated to hypertrophic, there are pathological alterations in myocardial vasculature structure and func Read More

Background: The Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction (HFpEF) is defined as the preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) with the signs of heart failure, elevated natriuretic peptides, and either the evidence of the structural heart disease or diastolic dysfunction. The importance of this form of heart failure was increased after studies where the mortality rates and readmission to the hospital were founded similar Read More

Advances in early reperfusion therapies focused on the revascularization of the ischemic tissues, in the last decades, lead to reduced mortality in acute myocardial infarction (MI) patients. However, a large proportion of patients show inadequate myocardial perfusion because of dysfunction of the microcirculation. The high prevalence of microvascular dysfunction after reperfusion therapies and the negative prognostic of this p Read More

In recent decades, drug-protein interactions have been widely studied and several methods of analysis of these phenomena have been developed and improved. These can be classified into separation, physical, chromatographic and electrophoretic methods. This review depicts the assumptions and mechanisms of methods from each group, details their strengths and weaknesses, and presents examples of their usa Read More

Background: Cerebral ischemia is a common cause of disability and death. Ischemic brain injury results from complex pathological processes, including oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis. Thioredoxin( Trx) is an important multifunctional protein, which regulates cellular redox status. Increasing studies have demonstrated that Trx provides a neuroprotective role against cerebral ischemia-induced injury. Methods Read More

Amelogenins are enamel matrix proteins that play crucial roles in enamel formation. Previous studies have indicated that amelogenin and amelogenin C-terminal peptides have cell-signaling functions. Recently, adipocyte-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) have received attention as a potential source of stem cells for use in regeneration therapy. In this study, we examined the effects of human full-length amelogen Read More

Background: The role of urinary cystatin C to early predict acute kidney injury (AKI) in children and neonates remains uncertain. The present study aimed to assess and compare the level of urinary cystatin C in neonates with and those without AKI. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 55 available neonates who were involved by AKI and admitted to the neonatal department at Ali-Asghar hospital in Tehran Read More