Ulrich Laufs

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..Therefore, there is uncertainty about how acute ischemic stroke patients with increased cTnT levels should be managed regarding diagnostic and therapeutic workup...

..Withdrawal of statin treatment could suppress endothelial NO production and may impair vascular function...

..Rac1 GTPase gene-transcription and activity is regulated by 17 beta-estradiol, which may be an important molecular mechanism contributing to the cardiovascular effects of estrogens...

..However, prospective clinical evaluations with clinical endpoints are missing especially for the German health care system in order to develop recommendations for clinical practice. Joint efforts of physicians and pharmacists are needed...

..HMG CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) may exert a wide array of cholesterol independent effects including antihypertrophic effects on the heart. Their role in the treatment of heart failure has not been studied...

..Therefore, the ability of statins to improve endothelial function through the release of NO may partially account for their beneficial effects at reducing the incidence of cardiovascular events...

..Patients with high vascular risk benefit from statin therapy irrespective of cholesterol levels, underlining the importance of the assessment of global vascular risk as the basis of modern lipid therapy...

..However, prospective clinical studies evaluating the effects of the proposed interventions on clinical endpoints are rare and therefore evidence-based recommendations are missing...

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..The underlying molecular mechanisms are incompletely understood. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) contribute to endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis. An important source of vascular ROS is the NADPH oxidase...

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..Exercise is a central component of the primary prevention of vascular diseases. The effect of physical activity on circulating EPC in healthy individuals is not known...

..The effect of statin withdrawal in ischaemic heart failure or in patients with advanced renal disease is not known. On the basis of the available evidence, current statin treatment should not be stopped in these patients...

..In the setting of primary prevention, the association of stress and cardiovascular risk factors in obese and non-obese individuals is not known...

..The effect of statin withdrawal in ischaemic heart failure or in patients with advanced renal disease is not known. On the basis of the available evidence, current statin treatment should not be stopped in these patients...

..Therefore, it was tested if these drugs inhibit Rac1 and RhoA activity in cardiomyocytes and, thereby, prevent angiotensin II-mediated expression of atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) and myosin light chain (MLC)-2 in the heart...

..From the cardiologist's perspective, there is at present no evidence indicating the use of vitamins, antioxidants or hormone therapy in cardiovascular prevention...

..Bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are thought to exert beneficial effects on atherosclerosis, angiogenesis, and vascular repair...

..To determine the effect of heart rate reduction with ivabradine on atherosclerotic lesions and erectile dysfunction...

..PPAR-γ agonists may mediate vascular effects in addition to insulin sensitizing. We therefore examined whether pioglitazone regulates vascular telomere biology...

..This study examines the effects of exercising on vascular telomere biology and endothelial apoptosis in mice and the effects of long-term endurance training on telomere biology in humans...

..In cardiac fibroblasts, Rac1 GTPase mediates upregulation of fibronectin via LOX and CTGF. Inhibition of this signaling pathway may therefore represent a target for the prevention of fibrotic atrial remodeling...

..However, their effects on blood monocytes, endothelial function, atherogenesis, and sterol tissue concentrations are poorly understood...

..NADPH oxidase is a major source of ROS production. The small GTPase Rac1 mediates the activation of NADPH oxidase; however, the mechanism of Rac1 activation is incompletely understood...

..This result emphasizes the beneficial effect of inhibition of the renin-angiotensin system even in terms of erectile function...

..We hypothesized that ACE inhibitors may exert beneficial effects during pressure-induced myocardial hypertrophy by regulating progenitor cell function...

..We studied the signal transduction of atrial structural remodeling that contributes to the pathogenesis of atrial fibrillation (AF)...

..These findings may help to establish novel pathophysiological concepts and therapeutic strategies in the treatment of various cardiovascular diseases...

..The effect represents a potential regenerative mechanism in atherosclerosis and is observed in normoglycemic individuals with stable coronary artery disease...

..The full text of this article is available online at http://www.circresaha.org...

..Aliskiren increased number and function of PAC in mice and prevented atherosclerotic lesion formation. The effects were observed independent of blood pressure lowering...

..Statin treatment improved hyperemic forearm blood flow and decreased serum markers of oxidative stress and inflammation...

..Physical activity improves endothelial function. This analysis aims to explore the impact of regular physical exercise on the prevalence and the degree of MAU in hypertensive individuals at high cardiovascular risk...

..We hypothesized that eNOS of the bone marrow (BM) affects cardiac remodelling during myocardial hypertrophy via the regulation of BM-derived vascular progenitor cells...

..We aimed to study the role of Rac1 GTPase in atrial fibrillation (AF)...

..The small GTPase Rac1 seems to play a role in the pathogenesis of atrial fibrillation (AF). The aim of the present study was to characterize the effects of Rac1 overexpression on atrial electrophysiology...

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..Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate differences in cholesterol metabolism in relation to vascular diseases in this subset of patients...

..Hypercholesterolemia-induced angiotensin II type 1 (AT1) receptor overexpression is thought to be a key event in the development of endothelial dysfunction...

..Collateral arteries protect tissue from ischaemia. Heart rate correlates with vascular events in patients with arterial obstructive disease. Here, we tested the effect of heart-rate reduction (HRR) on collateral artery growth...

..The aim of the present study was to evaluate markers of cholesterol metabolism and determine their relationship with CVD in patients without diabetes mellitus who were not receiving statin treatment...

..Vascular effects of mental stress are only partially understood. Therefore, we studied effects of chronic stress and heart rate (HR) on endothelial function and cerebral ischemia...

..Therefore, prospective clinical trials are needed to evaluate whether subjects with altered cholesterol homeostasis may benefit from treatment strategies that reduce cholesterol absorption in addition to statin treatment...

..These vascular effects cause a profound blood pressure reduction and lead to decreased vascular damage in male spontaneously hypertensive rats...

..Therefore, we characterized effects of heart rate reduction (HRR) by I(f) current inhibition on aortic compliance and underlying molecular mechanisms in apolipoprotein E-deficient (ApoE(-)/(-)) mice...

..The effects are independent of changes in cholesterol levels and are equivalent or even superior to the protective effects by simvastatin and atorvastatin in this animal model...

..We hypothesized that selective heart rate reduction may influence endothelial function and atherogenesis and tested the effects of the I(f) current inhibitor ivabradine in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice...

..This study investigates the time-dependent influence on growth and motility of paclitaxel and sirolimus alone and combined with the coating additive iopromide on EPC and hCASMC...

..We conclude that in both SDF-1- and angiotensin II-triggered signaling, ILK is a central mediator of rac1-induced oxidative stress and myocardial hypertrophy...

..Heart rate can be easily determined during physical examination of the patient and therefore allows a simple hint on prognosis and efficiency of therapy...

..Activation of Rac1 by angiotensin II leads to a CTGF- and lysyl oxidase-mediated increase of miR-21 expression contributing to structural remodelling of the atrial myocardium...

..In summary, the data show that down-regulation of Rac1-GTPase contributes to the inhibition of angiotensin II-mediated superoxide release by 17beta-estradiol in monocytes...

..Bone-marrow-derived progenitor cells have been shown to contribute to endothelial homeostasis, repair, and new blood vessel formation. We therefore studied the effects of pressure overload on angiogenesis and progenitor cells...

..Inhibition of IFNβ stimulates VSMC proliferation and collateral artery growth...

..Our findings indicate that oxysterols could play an important and so far underestimated role in reverse cholesterol transport...

..The purpose of this study was to study the underlying molecular mechanisms of the protective cardiac effects of physical exercise...

..Monocyte activation plays an important role in vascular diseases. Omega-3 fatty acids (n3-FA) lower fasting TG levels. The effects of n3-FA on ppTG and the role of ppTG for monocyte activation are insufficiently understood...

..We aimed to characterize different cellular effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin 1 (AT1) receptor blockers (ARBs) as mono- or combination therapy in cardiac pressure overload. Methods and..

..PGE1-mediated upregulation of EPC is associated with improved EPC function and enhanced angiogenesis...

..Ongoing research points towards a shift of the focus from the HDL-C concentrations to parameters of HDL function and from fasting TG to TG kinetics...

..Stimulation with the AMPK activator AICAR reverses these metabolic changes, increases fatty acid utilization, and inhibits cardiomyocyte hypertrophy...

..Pioglitazone prevents apoptosis of EPC in mice as well as in human EPC in a PI3K-dependent but NO-independent manner. Reduction of EPC apoptosis by TZD may be a potentially beneficial mechanism for patients with vascular diseases...

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..The purpose of this study was to evaluate vascular effects of diet supplementation with plant sterol esters (PSE)...

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..This review summarizes the effects of statins on endothelial function and oxidative stress...

..There was no compensatory change in FSH or LH. It is concluded that pravastatin does not alter steroid hormones or gonadotropins in a clinically applicable dose, which significantly reduces total and LDL cholesterol...

..These pleiotropic properties of statins may have important clinical implications in addition to lowering serum cholesterol...

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..Since there are no safety data on the use of statins in chronic heart failure, a controlled randomized and placebo-controlled trial is urgently needed...

..Additional studies investigating relevant clinical endpoints are needed before a diet supplemented with plant sterols can be recommended in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases...

..Important current clinical endpoint studies with new CETP inhibitors will elucidate whether increasing HDL by CETP inhibition leads to a reduction of cardiovascular events...

..In general, the following applies to primary and secondary prevention of the acute coronary syndrome: Change in lifestyle and strict risk factor control improve the quality of life and prognosis when followed consequently...

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..In particular, inhibition of small GTP-binding proteins, Rho, Ras, and Rac, whose proper membrane localization and function are dependent on isoprenylation, may play an important role in mediating the pleiotropic effects of statins...

..These effects of atorvastatin may contribute to the vasoprotective effects of statins...

..CONCLUSIONS: Statin pretreatment in patients with acute coronary syndromes is associated with improved clinical outcome. However, discontinuation of statins after onset of symptoms completely abrogates this beneficial effect...

..In patients with acute or impending stroke, withdrawal of statins may impair outcome...

..Voluntary physical activity improves long-term stroke outcome by eNOS-dependent mechanisms related to improved angiogenesis and cerebral blood flow...

..The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of hypercholesterolemia and statin treatment in rabbits with experimental MI...

..Oral statin treatment inhibits myocardial rac1-GTPase activity. These data suggest that extrahepatic effects of statins can be observed in humans and may be beneficial for patients with chronic heart failure...

..Thus, therapeutic modalities that target eNOS not only serve as preventive measures to reduce stroke incidence but also could represent novel treatment strategies for reducing brain injury during cerebral ischaemia...

..Here, we review evidence to suggest that the abrupt discontinuation of statin medication exerts negative vascular effects in patients with acute vascular events...

..Withdrawal of statin treatment leads to an overshoot activation of Rho and Rac with dramatic effects on nitric oxide bioavailability, NAD(P)H-oxidase activity, and superoxide production...

..Our results suggest that physical activity not only decreases stroke risk, but also provides a prophylactic treatment strategy for increasing blood flow and reducing brain injury during cerebral ischemia...

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..Statins exert rapid cholesterol-independent vasoprotective effects. Here, we tested whether postevent treatment with intravenously (i.v.) administered rosuvastatin improves acute stroke outcome in mice...