Low-dose simvastatin improves survival and ventricular function via eNOS in congestive heart failure.

3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors increase endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) activity by multiple mechanisms. We previously reported that genetic overexpression of eNOS improves survival and cardiac function in congestive heart failure (CHF). In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that low-dose treatment with an 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitor exerts beneficial effects on survival and/or cardiac function in a murine model of CHF.

Drug-eluting stent implantation for treatment of recurrent renal artery in-stent restenosis.

Percutaneous renal artery stenting has become the treatment of choice for renal artery stenosis. In-stent restenosis (ISR) still remains a persistent problem. Drug eluting stents have significantly reduced the incidence of ISR in coronary arteries.

Leukocyte and endothelial adhesion molecule studies in knockout mice.

Ischemia and reperfusion of the myocardium initiate an inflammatory response directed against the myocardium, and many studies attribute a significant portion of this injury to leukocytes. Leukocyte and endothelial cell adhesion molecules are responsible for neutrophil-endothelial cell interactions in coronary vasculature following ischemia and reperfusion. Interactions between beta(2)-integrins and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 are responsible for firm adhesion of neutrophils to the coronary endothelium in acute cardiac inflammation.

Comparison of intracoronary vs. intravenous administration of abciximab in coronary stenting.

There have been animal and human studies looking at intracoronary (IC) use of abciximab with good short-term clinical outcomes. There exists no data comparing intracoronary with intravenous (IV) administration of abciximab beyond 30 days. We compared the clinical outcomes between the IC (n = 101) and IV (n = 72) group of patients.

Endothelial nitric oxide synthase overexpression attenuates myocardial reperfusion injury.

Previous studies indicate that deficiency of endothelial nitric oxide (NO) synthase (eNOS)-derived NO exacerbates myocardial reperfusion injury. We hypothesized that overexpression of eNOS would reduce the extent of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (MI/R) injury. We investigated two distinct strains of transgenic (TG) mice overexpressing the eNOS gene (eNOS TG).

Outcomes of coronary artery bypass grafting in patients with a history of illicit drug use.

To date, no studies have been conducted on the effects of illicit drug use in patients with ischemic heart disease treated with coronary artery bypass grafting. Our retrospective study suggests that current illicit drug use is a significant predictor of cardiovascular complications in the first 6 months after coronary artery bypass grafting.