Cardiovascular signalling in disease

Question 1

why is signalling in CVD important to understand?

Answer 1

CVD UK’s biggest killer
160 000 death in 2011 (NHS)

Public needs not being met
new more effective threapy?

Question 2

why is CVD increasing?

Answer 2

• increased life expectancy and aging of the population
• increasingly sedentary lifestyle
• the epidemic of cardiac and non-cardiac comorbidities
• increased clinical recognition of cardiovascular disease

Question 3

how does CVD vary in those with SLE (Lupus) disease?

Answer 3

CVD risk 5-6x increased
not due to usual risk factors
endothelial dysfunction (theraputic target) —> leukocyte recruitment —> foam cell formation —> Atherosclerotic plaque

Question 4

what role is the relationship between CVD, SLE and vitamin D?

Answer 4

-Vit D is an independent risk factor for CVD in general population
-Low vitamin D associated with vascular stiffness in SLE
-Increased prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in SLE
(13ng/ml vs 27ng/ml)

Question 5

what increases/decreases as a result of damage to the endothelial wall?

Answer 5

increase: endothelial integrity; loss of anti-inflammatory agents
decrease: permeability; proinflammatory cytokines

Question 6

what are the medical uses of biomarkers?

Answer 6

• predicting disease
• diagnosis
• stage of disease
• treatment efficiacy
• side effect prediction
• disease progression

Question 7

have a look at last half of ‘CV signalling in disease’ powerpoint

Answer 7

lots of experiment data