Search results for "Cardiovascular agent"
showing 10 items of 72 documents
Targeting Nitric Oxide with Natural Derived Compounds as a Therapeutic Strategy in Vascular Diseases
2016
Within the family of endogenous gasotransmitters, nitric oxide (NO) is the smallest gaseous intercellular messenger involved in the modulation of several processes, such as blood flow and platelet aggregation control, essential to maintain vascular homeostasis. NO is produced by nitric oxide synthases (NOS) and its effects are mediated by cGMP-dependent or cGMP-independent mechanisms. Growing evidence suggests a crosstalk between the NO signaling and the occurrence of oxidative stress in the onset and progression of vascular diseases, such as hypertension, heart failure, ischemia, and stroke. For these reasons, NO is considered as an emerging molecular target for developing therapeutic stra…
The potential of aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 as a therapeutic target in cardiovascular disease.
2018
Mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH-2) plays a major role in the ethanol detoxification pathway by removing acetaldehyde. Therefore, ALDH-2 inhibitors such as disulfiram represent the first therapeutic targeting of ALDH-2 for alcoholism therapy. Areas covered: Recently, ALDH-2 was identified as an essential bioactivating enzyme of the anti-ischemic organic nitrate nitroglycerin, bringing ALDH-2 again into the focus of clinical interest. Mechanistic studies on the nitroglycerin bioactivation process revealed that during bioconversion of nitroglycerin and in the presence of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species the active site thiols of ALDH-2 are oxidized and the enzyme activity is los…
Advances in drug-induced cholestasis: Clinical perspectives, potential mechanisms and in vitro systems
2018
Despite growing research, drug-induced liver injury (DILI) remains a serious issue of increasing importance to the medical community that challenges health systems, pharmaceutical industries and drug regulatory agencies. Drug-induced cholestasis (DIC) represents a frequent manifestation of DILI in humans, which is characterised by an impaired canalicular bile flow resulting in a detrimental accumulation of bile constituents in blood and tissues. From a clinical point of view, cholestatic DILI generates a wide spectrum of presentations and can be a diagnostic challenge. The drug classes mostly associated with DIC are anti-infectious, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, psychotropic and cardiov…
Levosimendan prevents doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity in time- and dose-dependent manner: implications for inotropy.
2019
Abstract Aims Levosimendan (LEVO) a clinically-used inodilator, exerts multifaceted cardioprotective effects. Case-studies indicate protection against doxorubicin (DXR)-induced cardiotoxicity, but this effect remains obscure. We investigated the effect and mechanism of different regimens of levosimendan on sub-chronic and chronic doxorubicin cardiotoxicity. Methods and results Based on preliminary in vivo experiments, rats serving as a sub-chronic model of doxorubicin-cardiotoxicity and were divided into: Control (N/S-0.9%), DXR (18 mg/kg-cumulative), DXR+LEVO (LEVO, 24 μg/kg-cumulative), and DXR+LEVO (acute) (LEVO, 24 μg/kg-bolus) for 14 days. Protein kinase-B (Akt), endothelial nitric oxi…
Loop diuretics decrease the renal elimination rate and increase the plasma levels of trimethylamine‐N‐oxide
2018
Aims Trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) is a novel cardiovascular risk marker. We explored the association of commonly used cardiovascular medications with TMAO levels in patients and validated the identified associations in mice. Methods Detailed history of drug treatment was recorded in 300 patients with cardiovascular disease without diabetes in an observational, cross-sectional study. Animal study was performed in CD1 mice. Results Median plasma TMAO (interquartile range) level was 2.144 (1.570-3.104) μmol l-1 . Among nine cardiovascular drug groups, the use of loop diuretics (0.510 ± 0.296 in users vs. 0.336 ± 0.272 in nonusers, P = 0.008) and mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (0.482 ±…
Cardenolides: Insights from chemical structure and pharmacological utility
2019
Cardiac glycosides (CGs) are a class of naturally occurring steroid-like compounds, and members of this class have been in clinical use for more than 1500 years. They have been used in folk medicine as arrow poisons, abortifacients, heart tonics, emetics, and diuretics as well as in other applications. The major use of CGs today is based on their ability to inhibit the membrane-bound Na
Effect of noradrenaline and isoproterenol on lipopolysaccharide-induced tumor necrosis factor-alpha production in whole blood from patients with chro…
2005
Increased levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) correlate with poor prognoses in chronic heart failure (CHF). This study demonstrated that noradrenaline and isoproterenol inhibit TNF-alpha production in patients with CHF in ex vivo whole blood in a dose-dependent fashion. The beta-blocker bisoprolol abolishes this effect.
Public Opinion on Psychotropic Drugs: An Analysis of the Factors Influencing Acceptance or Rejection
1997
Widespread negative attitudes and irrational beliefs about psychotropic drugs held by the public affect patients' treatment compliance. This study was an attempt to identify factors influencing people's acceptance or rejection of psychotropic drugs. An opinion poll was taken by a representative group of 2,176 adults in Germany. In addition to their attitudes toward psychotropic and cardiac drugs and their ratings of perceived risks and benefits, they were also asked about their drug knowledge, their fear of losing self-control, and their fundamental political values. Our results show that even for the treatment of severe mental disease, psychotropic drugs generally are not well accepted com…
Early outcome after implantation of Absorb bioresorbable drug-eluting scaffolds in patients with acute coronary syndromes
2013
The safety of BVS implantation in patients with a high risk for early thrombotic complications has not been studied. We report on the outcomes of patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) treated with bioresorbable, everolimus-eluting, vascular scaffolds (BVS).150 consecutive patients with ACS (194 lesions) treated with BVS between May 2012 and July 2013 were compared with a control group composed of 103 consecutive patients (129 lesions) who underwent everolimus drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation in the same time period. The incidence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE: death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, or reintervention) before discharge, at one month and six months was eva…
Decreased dopamine D2/D3-receptor binding in temporal lobe epilepsy: an [18F]fallypride PET study.
2006
Summary: Purpose: Although animal data are suggestive, evidence for an alteration of the extrastriatal dopaminergic system in human focal epilepsy is missing. Methods: To quantify D2/D3-receptor density, we studied seven patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and nine agematched controls with positron emission tomography (PET) by using the high-affinity dopamine D2/D3-receptor ligand [ 18 F]Fallypride ([ 18 F]FP) suitable for imaging extrastriatal binding. TLE was defined by interictal and ictal video-EEG, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and [ 18 F]fluorodeoxyglucose ([ 18 F]FDG)-PET and was due to hippocampal sclerosis (HS), based on histology in all patients. Primary analysis was ba…