Trends in vascular pharmacology research in the Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, Bratislava

Research in the Department of Pharmacology started to focus intensively on fetal circulation in the 60s. Results of experiments contributed to clarification of the conversion of fetal circulation type to the adult type: the mechanism of the ductus arteriosus closure, examination of fetal and neonatal pulmonary vessel responses. In the early 80s, increased attention was dedicated to fetal vascular endothelium, later on to vascular reactivity in relation to the endothelium in adult animals. We developed original models of vascular endothelial damage using the perfusion method (repeated vasoconstrictive stimuli, deendothelization by air bubbles). We developed a new technique for in vitro endothelial loss quantification on Millipore filters. Under in vitro conditions, the protective effects of sulodexide and pentoxifylline on vascular endothelium were evaluated. In recent years were studied protective effects of selected substances in vivo in models of endothelial damage (e.g. stress, toxic tissue damage, diabetes mellitus, hypertension). The role of potassium channels in the hypertension model was studied in cooperation with the Czech Academy of Sciences. Assessment of vascular reactivity in the diabetic model was significantly improved by computer. In addition to experimental work, the department is solving problems of clinical pharmacology - especially drug risk evaluation (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). Recently, we have dealt with pharmacoepidemiological studies in geriatric patients and with cardiovascular risk of NSAIDs in relation to pharmacotherapy. The results of these studies may be an impulse for targeted problem solving in our experiments.