Abstract
This chapter focuses on several key issues regarding endothelial cell function during diabetes mellitus, including the role of the endothelium in maintaining the basal tone of blood vessels, the role of the endothelium in vascular reactivity and permeability, and potential cellular mechanisms that may contribute to vascular dysfunction during diabetes mellitus. Endothelium plays a critical role in vascular homeostasis and regulation of many physiological events, including inflammation, platelet aggregation/adhesion, angiogenesis, mechanoreception, and metabolism of circulating compounds. In addition to these physiological events, the endothelium appears to regulate vascular reactivity and permeability by the synthesis/release of various important vasoactive substances, including nitric oxide. Diabetes mellitus produces impairment of endothelium-dependent responses in large and small blood vessels in animal models and in human subjects. While the precise mechanism by which diabetes mellitus impairs vascular reactivity and permeability is not entirely clear, it appears that the formation of oxygen-derived free radicals may play a prominent role. Thus, inhibition of cellular pathways that account for the formation of oxygen-derived free radicals may prove to be a useful therapeutic approach for the prevention of cardiovascular abnormalities in diabetic subjects.
Published Version
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