“
“8-Iso-prostaglandin F-2 alpha (8-iso-PGF(2 alpha)), a representative isoprostane, is a reliable biomarker for enhanced oxidant stress in vivo. Its urinary excretion has been proposed as a risk marker in patients with coronary heart disease. Isoprostane content has not yet been well elucidated so far in human coronary plaques. The aim of this study was to evaluate content of immunoreactive 8-iso-PGF(2 alpha) in directional coronary atherectomy (DCA) specimens from

patients with coronary heart diseases. Twenty-seven patients with stable angina pectoris (SAP) and 8 vulnerable patients (5 patients with unstable angina pectoris and 3 with recent myocardial infarction) were subjected to DCA. The specimens from SAP consisted of 14 de novo and 13 restenotic lesions, whereas WZB117 cost those from the vulnerable patients were all de novo lesions. Total 8-iso-PGF(2 alpha) content in the DCA specimens from the vulnerable patients was significantly greater ATR inhibitor than that from patients with SAP (5.48 (2.70-10.43) versus 2.38 (1.19-4.32) ng/g tissue, median (interquartile range), P < 0.05). There

was no significant difference in total 8-iso-PGF(2 alpha) content between de novo and restenotic lesions from patients with SAP (3.25 (1.48-5.05) versus 1. 57 (0.62-2.47) ng/g tissue, respectively, P = 0.895). Total 8-iso-PGF(2 alpha) content in apparently normal peripheral artery specimens was only 0.34 (0.26-0.46) ng/g tissue. In conclusion, 8-iso-PGF(2 alpha) was enriched in the DCA specimens from vulnerable patients, suggesting a crucial role of free radicals in formation of vulnerable plaques and a putative benefit of anti-oxidant therapy on these patients. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Alzheimer’s selleck chemicals disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia,

clinically characterized by loss of memory and progressive deficits in different cognitive domains. An emerging disease-modifying approach to face the multifactorial nature of AD may be represented by the development of Multi-Target Directed Ligands (MTDLs), i.e., single compounds which may simultaneously modulate different targets involved in the neurodegenerative AD cascade. The structure of tacrine, an acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitor (AChEI), has been widely used as scaffold to provide new MTDLs. In particular, its homodimer bis(7)tacrine represents an interesting lead compound to design novel MTDLs. Thus, in the search of new rationally designed MTDLs against AD, we replaced the heptamethylene linker of bis(7)tacrine with the structure of cystamine, leading to cystamine-tacrine dimer.