Smoking and atherosclerosis: mechanisms of disease and new therapeutic approaches.

It has been clear that at least 1 billion adults worldwide are smokers and at least 700 million children are passive smokers at home. Smoking exerts a detrimental effect to many organ systems and is responsible for illnesses such as lung cancer, pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cancer of head and neck, cancer of the urinary and gastrointestinal tract, periodontal disease, cataract and arthritis. Additionally, smoking is an important modifiable risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease such as coronary artery disease, stable angina, acute coronary syndromes, sudden death, stroke, peripheral vascular disease, congestive heart failure, erectile dysfunction and aortic aneurysms via initiation and progression of atherosclerosis.

Diagnostic and therapeutic potentials of microRNAs in heart failure.

MicroRNAs are a class of evolutionarily small non-coding RNAs of 19 to 25 nucleotides in length, that represent one of the most exciting areas of current medical science as they can regulate a complex regulatory network of gene expression and physiologic processes including differentiation, proliferation and apoptosis in a highly context dependent fashion. Recently, their role in cardiovascular disease and in the regulation of cardiomyocyte size and function, in the action potential, in angiogenesis and in mitochondrial function was recognized. Importantly, they have been evaluated for their prognostic and diagnostic role in heart failure and modification of specific microRNAs levels has been tested as a therapeutic option in experimental heart failure models.

MicroRNAs: Biomarkers for cardiovascular disease in patients with diabetes mellitus.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a complex metabolic disorder characterized by low insulin production/secretion by pancreatic beta cells and/or low responsiveness by insulin target tissues MicroRNAs have been associated with DM, but it is not clear whether this is a cause or an effect of metabolic abnormalities related to DM. In the hyperglycemic environment miRNAs are in involved in multiple stages of cardiovascular disease development and progression. In diabetic patients with cardiovascular disease miRNAs could potentially serve as early biomarkers for diagnosis and as therapeutic agents.