Main description:

One of the currently most expanding and exciting areas in cardiovascular research is the study of receipt and dispatch of chemical signals by different cell types. Major progress has been made during the last years and a number of intercellular mediators have been structurally identified and their regulation studied. The impressive developments in molecular biology have provided most effective tools, enabling us to understand message generation in much more detail than anyone would have appreciated a couple of years ago. These developments also have a major impact on cardiovascular pharmacology. This involves both the molecular design of new drugs as well as an improved understanding of how established drugs act. Clearly, changes in one mediator system will also affect others and it might be difficult to take out just one factor and to ignore others. This is definitely true for myocardial ischemia where many different mediators are synthesized and released at about the same time, resulting in a complex picture of events and an even more difficult selection of the most appropriate drug therapy.

Contents:

Prostaglandins and related eicosanoids.- Regulation of prostanoid-synthesis in the cardiovascular system.- Molecular regulation and augmentation of prostacyclin biosynthesis.- Testosterone regulation of platelet and vascular thromboxane A2 receptors.- Formation of 8-iso-prostaglandin F2? by human platelets.- Regulation of prostaglandin receptors in myocardial ischemia.- Hydroxylated 22-carbon fatty acids in platelet and vascular smooth muscle function: Interference with TXA2/PGH2 receptors.- Increased permeability of bovine aortic endothelial cell monolayers in response to a thromboxane A2-mimetic.- Potentiation of PDGF-induced growth responses in coronary artery smooth muscle cells by thromboxane.- The induction of cyclooxygenase-2 elicited by endotoxin in endothelial cells and macrophages is inhibited by prostaglandin E1 and 13,14-dihydro prostaglandin E1.- Effects of prostaglandin E1, prostaglandin E0 and SPM 206 on isolated human coronary arteries.- Vasodilator effects of PGE1 in the coronary and systemic circulation of the rat are mediated by ATP-sensitive potassium (K+) channels.- Diminished inhibition of adhesion molecule expression in prostacyclin receptor desensitized human platelets.- Iloprost-induced inhibition of proliferation of coronary artery smooth muscle cells is abolished by homologous desensitization.- The cardioprotective actions of iloprost in myocardial ischemia of the rabbit can be separated from its vasodilatory effects mediated by KATP+-channel opening.- Cicaprost inhibits collagen-induced platelet accumulation in rat lungs for some hours..- Nitric oxide.- The endothelial cell nitric oxide synthase: Is it really constitutively expressed?.- Kinin-mediated activation of endothelial nitric oxide formation: Possible role during myocardial ischemia.- Metabolism and excretion of nitric oxide in man: Basal studies and clinical applications.- Nitric oxide mediates microvascular permeability in the isolated perfused rat mesentery?.- Interplay of nitric oxide and histamine in the regulation of coronary reactive hyperemia and coronary autoregulation.- Exogenously supplied nitric oxide influences the dilation of the capillary microvasculature in vivo.- Effects of prolonged L-arginine administration on blood pressure in patients with essential hypertension (EH).- A neutrophil-derived nitric oxide-synthase (NOS) inhibitor.- Elevation of circulating nitric oxide: Its effects on hemodynamics and vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation in rats.- Activation of endothelial guanylate cyclase inhibits cellular reactivity.- Nitric oxide - related drugs.- Comparison of the vasorelaxing effect of different nitrovasodilators in conductive arterial and venous blood vessels.- Glyceryl trinitrate but not spontaneous nitric oxide donors preserve myocardial function and cell integrity in ischemic rabbit hearts.- Effects of nitric oxide donors, SIN-1 and GEA 3175 on prostacyclin and cGMP synthesis in cultured rat endothelial cells.- Effects of pentaerythrityl-tetranitrate and isosorbide-5-mononitrate in experimental atherosclerosis.- Effect of nitric oxide donors on rat bronchial muscle in vitro.- Rapid tolerance to formation of authentic nitric oxide from nitroglycerin in vivo.- The exercise-induced increase in plasma levels of endothelin-1 is enhanced in patients with atherosclerotic coronary artery disease. Modulation by pentaerithrityltetranitrat (PETN).- Vasoactive peptides and lipid mediators.- Clinical relevance of endothelial dysfunction in cardiovascular disorders.- Endothelin and endothelin antagonists: Pharmacology and clinical implications.- Platelet-vessel wall interactions, focal adhesions, and the mechanism of action of endothelial factors.- The effects of intracellular Ca2+ concentration and hypoxia on basal endothelin-1 secretion by cultured porcine aortic endothelial cells.- The similarity in action of hypoxia and platelet-activating factor on smooth muscle cells of coronary arteries: Possible explanation for hypoxic coronary spasm development.- Pituitary adenylate cyclase activating peptides are endothelium-independent dilators of human and porcine coronary arteries.- Coupling of hepoxilin A3-specific binding with calcium-mobilizing actions in human neutrophils.- Role of intracellular calcium in the regulation of phospholipase A2 in fMet-Leu-Phechallenged human polymorph neutrophils.- Thrombin receptor activating peptide - induced cellular effects: Comparative studies on human platelet activation and endothelium-dependent relaxation of porcine pulmonary arteries.- Inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate and protein kinase C are involved in thrombin and TRAP-induced vascular smooth muscle contraction.- Isolation and functional characterization of DNA-derived aptamers that act as thrombin inhibitors in human platelets and coagulation assays.- Defibrotide's activity on leukocytes and platelets in rabbits with diet-induced atherosclerosis.- Author Index.- Keyword Index.