Novel Strategies In Ischemic Heart Disease

Connexin 43 Hemichannels and Pharmacotherapy of Myocardial Ischemia Injury (Novel Treatment Strategies) Part 1

Introduction Connexin (Cx) is the basic unit in the composition of gap junction channels but also exist in non-junctional unapposed hemichannels (Hc). The gap junction channels are formed by apposition of two hexameric CxHc from adjacent cells and play an essential role in cardiac function by allowing conduction of electrical impulse and exchange of biologically […]

Connexin 43 Hemichannels and Pharmacotherapy of Myocardial Ischemia Injury (Novel Treatment Strategies) Part 2

PKC Isoform-selective activator and inhibitor peptides PKC consists of a family of at least twelve closely related isoforms (McDonald et al., 1994; Nishizuka, 1988; Osada et al., 1992) which regulate biochemical processes by phosphorylation of cellular proteins on serine or threonine residues. Molecular cloning has revealed that PKC family can be divided into three major […]

Connexin 43 Hemichannels and Pharmacotherapy of Myocardial Ischemia Injury (Novel Treatment Strategies) Part 3

Gap26 inhibits Cx43Hc currents Because we believed inhibition of Cx43Hc by 8PKC may represent the basic key mechanism of cardioprotection during ischemic preconditioning, we next investigated the functional effect of the presumably specific inhibitor of Cx43Hc, the mimetic Gap26 peptide, on Cx43Hc mediated currents recorded from individual tsA201 cells transiently expressing Cx43. In Fig. 6A, […]

Myocardial Ischemia: Alterations in Myocardial Cellular Energy and Diastolic Function, a Potential Role for D-Ribose (Novel Treatment Strategies)

Introduction Cardiovascular disease still remains the leading cause of deaths worldwide in both males and females. A variety of factors have been associated to play a role in the development of this disease, such as an individual’s genetic background and continual life style factors. Life style factors (including diet) have greatly influenced the occurrence and […]

Two Novel Approaches Providing Cardiac Protection Against Oxidative Stress (Novel Treatment Strategies) Part 1

Introduction Coronary artery disease is the highest contributor to morbidity and premature death in the developed world (Nabel, 2003; Fuster et al., 1992; Melo et al., 2004). Cardiac function is compromised in patients that survive an initial ischemic event and this progressive myocardial impairment leads to heart failure (Liu et al., 2007; Sugamura and Keaney, […]

Two Novel Approaches Providing Cardiac Protection Against Oxidative Stress (Novel Treatment Strategies) Part 2

Dual function of the Msr system It was initially thought that the main role of the Msr system was to repair oxidative damage to proteins in which critical met residues were oxidized to met(o). There has been ample evidence that this is an important function of the Msr system. Once again most of the studies […]

Hepatic Lipid Accumulation by High Cholesterol Diet is Inhibited by the Low Dose Fish Oil in Male C57BL/6J Mice (Novel Treatment Strategies)

Introduction Atherosclerotic diseases such as ischemic heart disease and cerebral infarction account for the major causes of death in many countries. It is well known that hyperlipidemia is closely associated with these diseases (Kodama, 1990). Fish oil consumption reduces lipogenesis and induces fatty acid oxidation in liver(Rustan, 1990; Halminski, 1991), and ameliorates plasma and hepatic […]

Cardiac Protection with Targeted Drug Delivery to Ischemic-Reperfused Myocardium (Novel Treatment Strategies) Part 1

Introduction The concept of targeted drug delivery implies selective accumulation of the drug in the tissue affected by the pathological process after systemic administration of the drug and its carrier with minimal effect of the former on the intact organs and tissues (Lammers et al., 2010). The idea of targeted delivery has been first suggested […]

Cardiac Protection with Targeted Drug Delivery to Ischemic-Reperfused Myocardium (Novel Treatment Strategies) Part 2

Fabrication, characterization, and surface modification of silica nanoparticles Among inorganic drug carriers, nanodisperse silica, titania, zirconia, and iron oxide as well as fullerenes and carbon nanotubes have been considered to be the most promising. In our studies, the prototype carriers for antiischemic drugs are suggested to be nanodispersed silica particles. It has been shown before […]

Cardiac Protection with Targeted Drug Delivery to Ischemic-Reperfused Myocardium (Novel Treatment Strategies) Part 3

Candidate drugs for heart-targeted delivery Several groups of drugs with different mechanisms of action might potentially be targeted to the heart with nano-sized carriers (Table 3). One of the most efficient means of myocardial protection known to date is ischemic preconditioning, a phenomenon which describes dramatically increased heart tolerance to prolonged ischemia occurring after one […]

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