Vascular Biology Unit, School of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia.
J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2011 Sep;51(3):299-307. doi: 10.1016/j.yjmcc.2011.06.002. Epub 2011 Jun 12.
Acquired cardiovascular diseases such as coronary heart disease, peripheral artery disease and related vascular problems contribute to more than one-third of worldwide morbidity and mortality. In many instances, particularly in the under developed world, cardiovascular diseases are diagnosed at a late stage limiting the scope for improving outcomes. A range of therapies already exist for established cardiovascular disease, although there is significant interest in further understanding disease pathogenesis in order to improve diagnosis and achieve primary and secondary therapeutic goals. The urocortins are a group of recently defined peptide members of the corticotrophin-releasing factor family. Previous pre-clinical work and human association studies suggest that urocortins have potential to exert some beneficial and other detrimental effects on the heart and major blood vessels. More current evidence however favours beneficial effects of urocortins, for example these peptides have been shown to inhibit production of reactive oxygen species and vascular cell apoptosis, and thus may have potential to antagonise the progression of cardiovascular disease. This review summarises published data on the potential role of urocortins in cardiovascular disease.
获得性心血管疾病，如冠心病、外周动脉疾病和相关血管问题，导致全球三分之一以上的发病率和死亡率。在许多情况下，特别是在欠发达国家，心血管疾病的诊断已经到了晚期，这限制了改善预后的范围。尽管人们非常有兴趣进一步了解疾病的发病机制，以改善诊断并实现初级和二级治疗目标，但已经存在一系列针对已确立的心血管疾病的治疗方法。尿皮质素是促肾上腺皮质素释放因子家族中一组新定义的肽类成员。先前的临床前工作和人类关联研究表明，尿皮质素有对心脏和主要血管产生一些有益和其他有害影响的潜力。然而，更多的最新证据支持尿皮质素的有益作用，例如，这些肽类已被证明可以抑制活性氧物质和血管细胞凋亡的产生，因此可能具有对抗心血管疾病进展的潜力。这篇综述总结了已发表的关于尿皮质素在心血管疾病中的潜在作用的数据。
