Current Vascular Pharmacology - Volume 7, Issue 4, 2009

Cardiovascular disease is characterized by abnormal function of the endothelium and smooth muscle of blood vessels. Several mechanisms had been proposed to explain, at least partially, the bases of these pathologies, and a significant contribution has come from cellular and molecular studies. Altered vascular reactivity has been detected in human subjects suffering cardiovascular disease as well as in isolated blood ves Read More

Concentrative nucleoside transporters (CNT; SLC28) and equilibrative nucleoside transporters (ENT; SLC29) mediate the uptake of natural nucleosides and a variety of nucleoside-derived drugs, mostly used in anticancer therapy. SLC28 and SLC29 families consist in three and four members, respectively, which differ in their substrate selectivity and their energy requirements. Tissue distribution of these transporters Read More

Diabetes mellitus types 1 and 2, and gestational diabetes are characterized by abnormal D-glucose metabolism and hyperglycaemia, and induce foetal endothelial dysfunction with implications in adult life increasing the risk of vascular diseases. Synthesis of nitric oxide (NO) and uptake of L-arginine (i.e. the L-arginine/NO signalling pathway) and adenosine (a vasoactive endogenous nucleoside) by the umbilical vein endotheli Read More

Diabetes mellitus is currently considered to be an epidemic disease. Approximately a third of individuals with type 1 and type 2 diabetes develop persistent albuminuria, lose renal function, and are at increased risk of cardiovascular and other microvascular complications. Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is the primary cause of end stage renal disease throughout the world. Microvascular dysfunction in the glomerulus ap Read More

The placental endothelium is unique among the entire human vasculature. The blood enriched in oxygen and nutrients is transported in the veins, whereas the arteries contain deoxygenated blood coming from the fetus. The placental vasculature has to develop rapidly to ensure adequate supply of the fetus. Therefore, factors present in the fetal circulation will stimulate placental angiogenesis. In the third trimester of preg Read More

Endothelial cells are key in the regulation of vascular tone through the release of vasoactive molecules, including nitric oxide (NO). NO is a gas synthesized from the cationic amino acid L-arginine via the endothelial NO synthase (eNOS). The semi-essential amino acid L-arginine is a taken up by endothelial cells via systems y+ and y+L in primary cultures of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). System y+ is a family Read More

Fetal and neonatal morbidity and mortality is high in severe pre-eclampsia compared with mild pre-eclampsia and normotensive pregnancies. Causes for these fetal disturbances had been associated with iatrogenic prematurity and reduction in placental blood flow. Actual evidences suggest that in severe (early-onset) pre-eclampsia a reduction in placental angiogenesis could be a mechanism responsible for the redu Read More

Connexins and pannexins comprise two families of transmembrane proteins ubiquitously distributed in vertebrates. Most cell types express more than 1 connexin or pannexin. Members of the same protein family form homo- or hetero-hexamers termed hemichannels. Hemichannels are pathways for the transmembrane diffusional exchange of ions and small molecules. Several human genetic diseases are associated with Read More

Vascular calcification is caused by the deposition of basic calcium phosphate crystals in blood vessels, myocardium, and/or cardiac valves. Calcification decreases artery wall compliance, and arterial calcification is associated to mortality in hyperphosphatemic renal failure and diabetes mellitus. The calcification of the tunica media characterizes the arteriosclerosis observed with age, diabetes and end stage-renal diseas Read More

The hypothesis of ‘Developmental Origins of Health and Disease’ (DOHaD) relies on the presence of mechanisms sensing and signalling a diversity of stimuli during fetal development. The mechanisms that have been broadly suggested to be involved in these processes are the epigenetic modifications that could ‘record’ perinatal stimuli. Since the definition of epigenetic and the associated mechanisms are conflictive, in th Read More

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and fetal overgrowth occur in 15% of all pregnancies and lead to the delivery of a baby with an abnormally low or high birth weight, respectively. Both these conditions of pathological fetal growth increase the risk for perinatal complications and predispose the baby for the development of cardiovascular disease and diabetes in childhood and later in life. Fetal growth is closely related to the Read More

Cancer cells, as with most mammalian cells, depend on a continuous supply of glucose; not only as a precursor of glycoproteins, triglycerides and glycogen, but also as an important source of energy. This review concentrates on GLUT transporter expression in both normal and cancerous classical sex-steroid hormone tissues (i.e. breast, uterus, ovary, testis and prostate, among others). Given the importance of estrogen, p Read More

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High-density lipoprotein (HDL) therapy is an emerging area of therapeutic development in the cardiovascular field, aimed at supplementing and improving the vascular benefit exerted by current treatments. Several studies have clearly established that HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) levels are a potent and independent epidemiologic risk factor for cardiovascular diseases; moreover, studies in animal models have established that Read More

Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPX) is a well-recognized assessment technique in patients with HF. Ventilatory efficiency, aerobic capacity and heart rate recovery are several parameters obtained from CPX that accurately reflect physiologic function and provide robust prognostic information. Pharmacotherapy is a vital component to the management of patients with HF. Numerous pharmacologic interventions, suc Read More