Hypercalcemia, acute and chronic, irrespective of the cause, is known to have effects on the heart and the vascular system that are potentially life-threatening. Some of these effects include accelerated atherosclerosis, uncontrolled hypertension, structural effects, and progressive cardiac dysfunction. This case report demonstrates the effects of hyperparathyroidism-induced hypercalcemia on th...

Prostaglandins have been known for a long time to have a vaso-active action. The recent discovery that prostacycline or thromboxane A2 have a greater vascular action than the prostaglandins suggests that these substances may have a physiological or pathological role, for example in endotoxin shock, anaphylaxis, coronary thrombosis, chronic hypertension, etc. The discovery of the leukotrienes an...

Obesity is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, in part through development of hypertension. Recent observations suggest that the cardiovascular actions of leptin may help explain the link between excess fat mass and cardiovascular diseases. Leptin is an adipocyte-derived hormone that acts in the central nervous system to promote weight loss by decreasing food intak...

used—and abused—since the dawn of history. Although most people who choose to drink can limit their intake to a level that produces no harm to their health or to society, about 34 percent of the population drinks approximately 62 percent of all alcoholic beverages consumed. This chronic heavy drinking1 is a significant factor in the development of alcohol dependence, or alcoholism,2 and is asso...

Of interest to cardiologists is a large group of rare systemic diseases in which involvement of the cardiovascular system may produce clinical evidence of cardiovascular disease, or may lead to cardiac failure (Weiss, 1939). An attempt has been made to outline the basic clinical, laboratory and pathological features of a few of these processes (Saphir, 1942;* Weiss et al., 1943; Lindsay, 1946)....

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) belong to the nuclear hormone-receptor superfamily. Originally cloned in 1990, PPARs were found to be mediators of pharmacologic agents that induce hepatocyte peroxisome proliferation. PPARs also are expressed in cells of the cardiovascular system. PPAR gamma appears to be highly expressed during atherosclerotic lesion formation, suggesting th...

A focused issue on nitric oxide (NO) is timely within a studies of coronary endothelial dysfunction in humans. The year of the award of the Nobel Prize for Biology and development of atherosclerosis is one of the most imMedicine to the discovery of the fundamental roles of this portant long-term consequences of endothelial dysfunction. simple gas in cardiovascular physiology and pathophysiolJer...

Lipoxygenases (LOXs) are nonheme iron-containing enzymes that catalyze dioxygenation of free or esterified polyenoic fatty acids to the corresponding hydroperoxides.1 Although LOXs in plants have been known for almost a century, the first mammalian LOXs were not discovered until the mid 1970s.2 In 1984 a 15-LOX activity was described in human atherosclerotic lesions,3 and since then the number ...