Preeclampsia (PE) has become the leading cause of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality in the world, which is characterized by a systemic maternal inflammatory response associated with endothelial dysfunction, hypertension, and proteinuria. The development of PE is still barely predictable and thus challenging to prevent and manage clinically. Fasudil (FSD), the first-generation Rho/ROCK ...

BACKGROUND Rho-kinase is suggested to have an important role in enhanced vasoconstriction in animal models of heart failure (HF). Patients with HF are characterized by increased vasoconstriction and reduced vasodilator responses to reactive hyperemia and exercise. The aim of the present study was to examine whether Rho-kinase is involved in the peripheral circulation abnormalities of HF in huma...

OBJECTIVE Accumulating evidence suggests that inflammatory cell infiltration is crucial pathogenesis during the initiation and progression of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). Given Rho-kinase (ROCK), an important kinase control the actin cytoskeleton, regulates the inflammatory cell infiltration, thus, we investigate the possibility and mechanism of preventing experimental AAA progression via t...

Exposure to high-altitude chronic hypoxia during pregnancy may cause pulmonary hypertension in neonates, as a result of vasoconstriction and vascular remodeling. We hypothesized that susceptibility to pulmonary hypertension, due to an augmented expression and activity of the RhoA/Rho-kinase (ROCK) pathway in these neonates, can be reduced by daily administration of fasudil, a ROCK inhibitor. We...

OBJECTIVE Smoking is associated with endothelial dysfunction and activated Rho-kinase in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) in humans. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the relationship between endothelial function and Rho-kinase activity in forearm VSMCs in healthy young men. METHODS AND RESULTS We evaluated the forearm blood flow (FBF) responses to acetylcholine (ACh), fasudil, a...

Refractory coronary vasospasm subsequent to reperfusion, such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation or revascularization, for myocardial infarction may respond to fasudil in the superacute phase. Continuous low-dose fasudil administration should be an option for refractory coronary vasospastic angina (VSA).

Gliomas are tumors arising from glial cells that are highly infiltrative within the brain. Their extensive migratory patterns greatly limit the treatment options and prognoses for patients. It has been shown that glioma cells undergo migration in a unique manner that relies heavily on non-muscle myosin II. Since functionality of non-muscle myosin II requires the phosphorylation of its regulator...

Dysfunction of cardiac mitochondria appears to play a substantial role in cardiomyopathy or myocardial dysfunction and is a promising therapeutic target for many cardiovascular diseases. We investigated the effect of the Rho/Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK) inhibitor fasudil on cardiac mitochondria from rats in which diabetes was induced by a combination of streptozotocin (STZ) and a sustai...

Rho kinase (ROCK), one of the serine/threonine kinases, is involved in pathologic conditions, and its activation causes neuronal cell death. Fasudil, a selective ROCK inhibitor, has been reported to cause increased cerebral blood flow (CBF) in the ischemic brain and protect against neuronal cell death by inhibiting ROCK. Ozagrel, a thromboxane A(2) synthase inhibitor, inhibits platelet aggregat...

PURPOSE To explore the effects of different doses of fasudil on cardiomyocytes in rats with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). METHODS A model of rats experiencing AMI was randomly divided into control groups and fasudil treatment groups according to the different doses of fasudil. After four weeks, hemodynamic parameters were measured. Expression levels of Rho kinase mRNA by the reverse tran...