This study investigated the effects of homocysteine (Hcy) on angiogenesis in cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and zebrafish embryos. We found that Hcy (50 micromol/L) significantly decreased cell numbers, viability, and induced a G1/S arrest in HUVEC in the presence of adenosine (Ade, 50 micromol/L). Hcy, in combination with Ade, reduced migration and suppressed tube-like...

Porphyromonas gingivalis is an oral pathogen that has recently been associated with chronic inflammatory diseases such as atherosclerosis. The strength of the epidemiological associations of P. gingivalis with atherosclerosis can be increased by the demonstration that P. gingivalis can initiate and sustain growth in human vascular cells. We previously established that P. gingivalis can invade a...

The effects of spaceflight on cardiovascular health are not necessarily seen immediately after astronauts have returned but can be delayed. It is important to investigate the long term effects of spaceflight on protein and gene expression of inflammation and endothelial activation as a predictor for the development of atherosclerosis and potential cardiovascular problems. The objectives of this...

Oxidative stress and inflammation are strongly linked to the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). As a potent antioxidant, astaxanthin may downregulate inflammation-associated factors involved in endothelial dysfunction and CVD progression. We studied the possible protective effects of astaxanthin against endothelial dysfunction in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) induced ...

the current study evaluated the general toxicity, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and cytotoxic activity of extracts obtained from the rhizomes of eremostachys azerbaijanica (labiatae) as well as analyzed the potent extracts using gc-ms. extracts of e. azerbaijanica in n-hexane, dichloromethane (dcm) and methanol (meoh) were prepared using a soxhlet apparatus. the antioxidant activity of the extrac...

Inhibitors of HMG-CoA reductase, namely statins, improve endothelial function independently of their cholesterol-lowering effects. Plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1) plays a critical role in vascular pathophysiology both at the intraand extravascular levels. We therefore investigated the effects of atorvastatin (ATOR) and fluvastatin (FLU) on PAI-1 and also tissue-type plasminogen a...

Whereas insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) is frequently upregulated in senescent replicatively exhausted human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), a systematic analysis of four different HUVEC donors revealed that IGFBP-3 is not consistently upregulated in all isolates at senescence. Lentiviral overexpression of IGFBP-3 inhibited cell proliferation, induced apoptosis ...

Neutrophil adhesion to interleukin-1 (IL-1)-stimulated human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) involves the CD18 family of leukocyte integrins (lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1 [LFA-11, Mac-1, and ~150.95) and LECAM-1 (DREG-56/LEU-8/LAM-l antigen) on neutrophils and intercellular adhesion molecule-l (ICAM-l) and endothelial leukocyte adhesion molecule-1 (ELAM-1) on the endotheliu...

Preeclampsia, a pregnancy-specific syndrome characterized by hypertension, proteinuria and edema, is a major cause of fetal and maternal morbidity and mortality especially in developing countries. Bj-PRO-10c, a proline-rich peptide isolated from Bothrops jararaca venom, has been attributed with potent anti-hypertensive effects. Recently, we have shown that Bj-PRO-10c-induced anti-hypertensive a...

Androgen receptor (AR) is a ligand-inducible transcription factor, and a member of the steroid-thyroid-retinoid receptor superfamily, that mediates the biological effects of androgens in a wide range of physiological and pathological processes. AR expression was identified in vascular cells nearly 20 years ago, and recent research has shown that AR mediates a variety of actions of androgens in ...