Garćia-Palmieri M R
Section of Adult Cardiology, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, San Juan 00936-5067.
P R Health Sci J. 1997 Jun;16(2):136-41.
Significant new findings in the last decade have demonstrated that the vascular endothelium is an important regulatory organ in maintaining cardiovascular homeostasis and that endothelial dysfunction is present in several cardiovascular diseases. With the production of multiple vasoactive substances the normal endothelium modulates the tone of the underlying vascular smooth muscle. These include endothelium-derived relaxing factors such as prostacyclin (PG1(2)), nitric oxide (NO) and endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF) and vasoconstrictors such as endothelin-1 and angiotensin II. The antiplatelet, antithrombotic and antifibrinolytic properties of the normal endothelium contribute to the maintenance of the fluidity of the blood. Activation or injury to the endothelial cells disrupts the function of the endothelial cells leading to the development of endothelial dysfunction. Endothelial dysfunction is accompanied by vasospasm, thrombosis, and atherosclerosis. It is present in cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, atherosclerotic heart diseases, congestive heart failure and many others. It has been shown that some therapeutic effects of drugs such as angiotensin-enzyme inhibitors is in part due to the overcoming of endothelial dysfunction.
过去十年中的重大新发现表明，血管内皮是维持心血管稳态的重要调节器官，并且内皮功能障碍存在于多种心血管疾病中。正常内皮通过产生多种血管活性物质来调节其下方血管平滑肌的张力。这些物质包括内皮衍生的舒张因子，如前列环素（PGI₂）、一氧化氮（NO）和内皮衍生的超极化因子（EDHF），以及血管收缩剂，如内皮素-1和血管紧张素II。正常内皮的抗血小板、抗血栓形成和抗纤维蛋白溶解特性有助于维持血液的流动性。内皮细胞的激活或损伤会破坏内皮细胞的功能，导致内皮功能障碍的发生。内皮功能障碍伴有血管痉挛、血栓形成和动脉粥样硬化。它存在于高血压、动脉粥样硬化性心脏病、充血性心力衰竭等心血管疾病中。研究表明，血管紧张素酶抑制剂等药物的一些治疗作用部分归因于克服了内皮功能障碍。
