Mach François, Montecucco Fabrizio, Steffens Sabine
Division of Cardiology, Foundation for Medical Researches, University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland.
Pharmacol Rep. 2009 Jan-Feb;61(1):13-21. doi: 10.1016/s1734-1140(09)70003-9.
The endocannabinoid system is a crucial player in the inflammatory processes underlying atherosclerosis. Recently, basic research studies and animal models have strongly supported the role of the endocannabinoid system not only in the regulation of classical cardiovascular risk factors (including lipid profile and glucose homeostasis), but also in the activation of immune cells and inflammatory mediators. Clinical trials investigating treatment with rimonabant (a selective antagonist of the cannabinoid type 1 receptor) have suggested a beneficial effect of this drug in the management of obesity. Further studies are needed to explore a possible use for rimonabant in treating type 2 diabetes and acute and chronic cardiovascular disease. Despite the slight increase in adverse events (mainly psychiatric), which has led to the recent withdrawal of rimonabant from the market, CB(1) receptor antagonism might represent a very promising therapeutic strategy to reduce the cardiovascular risk. In the present review, we focused on the most important experimental investigations into the role of the endocannabinoid system in atherosclerosis and cardiovascular risk.
内源性大麻素系统在动脉粥样硬化潜在的炎症过程中起着关键作用。最近，基础研究和动物模型有力地支持了内源性大麻素系统不仅在调节经典心血管危险因素（包括血脂谱和葡萄糖稳态）方面发挥作用，而且在免疫细胞和炎症介质的激活中也发挥作用。研究利莫那班（一种大麻素1型受体的选择性拮抗剂）治疗的临床试验表明，该药物在肥胖管理方面具有有益效果。需要进一步研究以探索利莫那班在治疗2型糖尿病以及急慢性心血管疾病方面的可能用途。尽管不良事件略有增加（主要是精神方面的），这导致利莫那班最近退出市场，但CB(1)受体拮抗作用可能是降低心血管风险的一种非常有前景的治疗策略。在本综述中，我们重点关注了关于内源性大麻素系统在动脉粥样硬化和心血管风险中作用的最重要实验研究。
