The pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) remains poorly understood. The present authors recently reported that mice with vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) gene disruption show a spontaneous phenotype of PAH, with pulmonary vascular remodelling and lung inflammation. To explore the underlying molecular mechanisms in this model, it was examined whether absence of the...

Traumatic spinal cord injury results in the disruption of neural and vascular structures (primary injury) and is characterized by an evolution of secondary pathogenic events that collectively define the extent of functional recovery. This article reviews the vascular responses to spinal cord injury, focusing on both early and delayed events, including intraparenchymal hemorrhage, inflammation, ...

The pathogenesis of atherosclerotic disease is complex, and very topical, as clearly highlighted in a recent position paper of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Working Group on Atherosclerosis and Vascular Biology in this journal, which deals with atherosclerotic plaques and their ‘stabilisation’ per se (1). A number of associations have been observed between lipid abnormalities, marker...

Vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) [vascular cognitive disorder (VCD), vascular dementia] describes a continuum of cognitive disorders ranging from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to dementia, in which vascular brain injury involving regions important for memory, cognition and behavior plays an important role. Clinical diagnostic criteria show moderate sensitivity (ca 50%) and variable specifi...

Idiopathic Sudden Hearing Loss (ISHL) is characterized by a sudden, bilateral or unilateral hearing deficit, which develops within a period of 72 hours and still poses a diagnostic and treatment challenge to otolaryngologists. Its cause and pathogenesis are still unknown. Among the theories proposed to explain its pathogenesis, we list cochlear viral infection, vascular occlusion and membrane r...

Disturbances in decidual and placental vascular development may play a role in the pathogenesis of pregnancy complications. This study focused on the role of angiogenic factors in the first trimester in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia (PE) and/or fetal growth restriction (FGR). First-trimester decidua was obtained during chorionic villous sampling.The expression of the angiogenic factors was d...

Increased understanding of the mechanisms of angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis has provided a glimpse at some of the molecules involved in the pathophysiology of hemangiomas and vascular malformations. This review focuses on recent advances in our understanding of the mechanisms of angiogenesis/lymphangiogenesis and the differentiation of arterial, venous, and lymphatic vessels. We integrate t...

1. Alterations in vascular reactivity were assessed in isolated artificially perfused kidneys from stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive (spSH) rats at different stages of hypertension and after neonatal sympathectomy with 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA). 2. During the pre-hypertensive stage, and the early and chronic stages of hypertension, the responses to noradrenaline, vasopressin, serotonin a...

Past studies have primarily focused on how altered lung vascular growth and development contribute to pulmonary hypertension. Recently, basic studies of vascular growth have led to novel insights into mechanisms underlying development of the normal pulmonary circulation and the essential relationship of vascular growth to lung alveolar development. These observations have led to new concepts un...

THE TWO MAJOR FORMS of human inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), represent classic chronic inflammatory disorders, characterized by progressive destructive inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract. Although the majority of research into IBD pathogenesis has focused on immune dysregulation, vascular involvement in IBD has also been recognized ove...