Daily non-political popular news in brief.

Diabetes makes it hard for blood vessels to relax

01-31-2008 · EurekAlert!

One way diabetes is bad for your blood vessels is by creating too much competition for an amino acid that helps blood vessels relax, researchers say.

Keywords: diabetes, makes, hard, blood, vessels, relax, diabete, make, vessel

« Previous | Next »

Similar news on "Diabetes makes it hard for blood vessels to relax":

Diabetes makes it hard for blood vessels to relax
01-31-2008 · EurekAlert!
One way diabetes is bad for your blood vessels is by creating too much competition for an amino acid that helps blood vessels relax, researchers say.
Similar news · Read more »
Fat protein cuts blood vessel inflammation, may help heart, Jefferson scientists find
06-01-2007 · EurekAlert!
A natural substance from fat cells can protect blood vessels from the damaging effects of inflammation, which contributes to heart disease. Researchers at Jefferson Medical College have shown for the first time in an animal model that the substance - a protein called adiponectin - helps prevent immune system white blood cells from binding to the inside of blood vessel walls. Harnessing adiponectin's properties may help protect against blood vessel damage in patients with obesity and diabetes.
Similar news · Read more »
Advance in understanding of blood pressure gene could lead to new treatments
02-04-2007 · EurekAlert!
Research by scientists at UCL (University College London) has clearly demonstrated for the first time the structure and function of a gene crucial to the regulation of blood pressure. The discovery could be important in the search for new treatments for illnesses such as heart disease, the UK's biggest killer. In a paper published online today in Nature Medicine, the team, led by Professor Patrick Vallance and Dr James Leiper, UCL Department of Medicine, reveal the role of the human gene dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH), showing that loss of DDAH activity disrupts nitric oxide (NO) production. NO is critical in the regulation of blood pressure, nervous system functions and the immune system. The role of DDAH is to break down modified amino acids (Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) and monomethyl arginine (L-NMMA)) that are produced by the body and have been shown to inhibit NO synthase. These molecules accumulate in various disease states including diabetes, renal failure and pulmonary and systemic hypertension, and their concentration in plasma (the fluid component of blood) is strongly predicative of cardiovascular disease and death. In a healthy human body, the majority of ADMA is eliminated through active metabolism by DDAH. Scientists have hypothesised that if DDAH function is impaired, NO production is reduced, and that this could be an important feature of increased cardiovascular risk. To examine this pathway in more detail, the researchers deleted the DDAH gene in mice. These mice went on to develop hypertension, or high blood pressure. They also designed specific inhibitors (small molecules) which bind to the active site of human DDAH. These small molecule inhibitors also induced hypertension in mice, confirming the importance of DDAH in the regulation of blood pressure. Dr Leiper, UCL Medicine, said: “These genetic and chemical approaches to disrupt DDAH showed remarkably consistent results, and provide compelling evidence that loss of DDAH function increases the concentration of ADMA and thereby disrupts vascular NO signalling. “There has been considerable scientific interest in this pathway and the role of ADMA as a novel risk factor, but so far there's been little evidence to support the idea that it's a cause of disease, rather than just a marker. Genes and their pathways are crucial to our understanding of cardiovascular disease and a better understanding of DDAH-1 could lead to important new treatments. “It could help us to establish if genetic variation predisposes certain people to these diseases, or whether environmental factors exert some of their effects through modulation of DDAH activity. “Our research also shows that this pathway could be harnessed therapeutically to limit production of NO in certain situations where too much nitric oxide is a bad thing; for example, hypotension and septic shock. These are some of the biggest problems in intensive care medicine and there is a huge unmet need for drug treatments.” The study, which was carried out at UCL's Rayne Institute, was funded by grants from the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. Professor Jeremy Pearson, Associate Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation, said: "The unexpected finding in the 1980s that a simple gas, nitric oxide (NO), is made by cells in the blood vessel wall and is a powerful control of blood vessel relaxation led to the award of the Nobel Prize in 1998 to its discoverers. "More recently, there has been increasing evidence that impairment of NO production is likely to be an important factor in the development of heart and circulatory disease, but the mechanisms responsible are not fully understood. "This study suggests for the first time that the loss of the activity of the enzyme DDAH-1 leads to reduced NO production and may cause heart and circulatory disease. These findings are likely to be important in the search for new ways to optimise the health of our blood vessels." ### Notes for Editors 1. For more information, please contact Ruth Metcalfe in the UCL Media Relations Office on tel: +44 (0)20 7679 9739, mobile: +44 (0)7990 675 947, out of hours: +44 (0)7917 271 364, e-mail: r.metcalfe@ucl.ac.uk2. 'Disruption of methylarginine metabolism impairs vascular homeostasis' is published in the February issue of the journal Nature Medicine. Advance online publication is embargoed to 18.00 GMT (13.00 US Eastern) Sunday 4 February 2007. Journalists can obtain copies of the paper by contacting the UCL Media Relations Office.3. The study was funded by the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. About UCL Founded in 1826, UCL was the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to admit students regardless of race, class, religion or gender, and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine. In the government's most recent Research Assessment Exercise, 59 UCL departments achieved top ratings of 5* and 5, indicating research quality of international excellence. UCL is the fourth-ranked UK university in the 2006 league table of the top 500 world universities produced by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. UCL alumni include Mahatma Gandhi (Laws 1889, Indian political and spiritual leader); Jonathan Dimbleby (Philosophy 1969, writer and television presenter); Junichiro Koizumi (Economics 1969, Prime Minister of Japan); Lord Woolf (Laws 1954, Lord Chief Justice of England & Wales); Alexander Graham Bell (Phonetics 1860s, inventor of the telephone), and members of the band Coldplay.
Similar news · Read more »
Genetic finding sheds light on diseases causing blood vessel breakdown
07-29-2007 · EurekAlert!
Twenty-one years after they first described a fatal genetic disorder in Missouri and Arkansas families, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have linked the condition to mutations in a gene known as TREX1. The identification will accelerate efforts to understand both the disorder and a broader range of more common conditions that affect small blood vessels, including diabetes.
Similar news · Read more »
Garlic boosts hydrogen sulfide to relax arteries
10-15-2007 · EurekAlert!
Eating garlic is one of the best ways to lower high blood pressure and protect yourself from cardiovascular disease. A new study from the UAB shows this protective effect is closely linked to how much hydrogen sulfide is produced from garlic compounds interacting with red blood cells. The researchers found this interaction triggered red blood cells to release H2S, which then led to the relaxation of blood vessels.
Similar news · Read more »
JDRF-funded researchers discover protein that causes blood vessel leakage and swelling in eyes
01-29-2007 · EurekAlert!
The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the world's leading charitable funder of type 1 diabetes research, announced today that JDRF-funded researchers have identified a group of proteins that may play critical roles in causing blood vessel leakage in the eyes of people with two forms of diabetic retinopathy.
Similar news · Read more »
Studies to find better ways to preserve human eggs, ovarian tissue under way
06-06-2007 · EurekAlert!
The goal is to make human eggs, ovarian tissue, blood vessels, even whole organs available when needed.
Similar news · Read more »
Chemical Conversation: Red blood cells send a signal that makes platelets less sticky
07-21-2007 · Science News Online
Red blood cells can send a chemical signal that makes platelets less sticky, easing blood flow through narrow vessels.
Similar news · Read more »
A type of antioxidant may not be as safe as once thought
09-04-2007 · EurekAlert!
According to new research at the University of Virginia Health System, N-acetylcysteine (NAC), an antioxidant commonly used in nutritional and body-building supplements, can form a red blood cell-derived molecule that makes blood vessels think they are not getting enough oxygen. This leads to pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a serious condition characterized by high blood pressure in the arteries that carry blood to the lungs.
Similar news · Read more »
Diesel exhaust may increase risk in patients with heart disease
09-12-2007 · EurekAlert!
Air pollution could be putting patients with heart disease at risk by affecting blood vessels and clotting, researchers warn. A study by the University of Edinburgh and UmeA University measured the effects of diesel exhaust on heart and blood vessel function in men who have previously experienced a heart attack.
Similar news · Read more »