http://www.health.am/vein/ http://www.health.am/vein/more/dangerous-plaque-buildup-in-arteries/ The supplement Aged Garlic Extract can reverse the buildup of deadly plaque in arteries and help prevent the progression of heart disease, according to a new study scheduled for publication in the Journal of Nutrition. The research, conducted at LA BioMed, found a reduction in the amount of low-attenuation plaque, or “soft plaque,” in the arteries of patients with metabolic syndrome who took Aged Garlic Extract. Metabolic syndrome is characterized by obesity, hypertension and other cardiac risk factors. “This study is another demonstration of the benefits of this supplement in reducing the accumulation of soft plaque and preventing the formation of new plaque in the arteries, which can cause heart disease,” said Matthew J. Budoff, MD, an LA BioMed lead researcher. “We have completed four randomized studies, and they have led us to conclude that Aged Garlic Extract can help slow the progression of atherosclerosis and reverse the early stages of heart disease.” 2016-01-22T00:56:11+00:00 http://www.health.am/vein/more/dangerous-hardening-of-the-arteries/ Researchers at the University of Cambridge, in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh, have shown how a radioactive agent developed in the 1960s to detect bone cancer can be re-purposed to highlight the build-up of unstable calcium deposits in arteries, a process that can cause heart attack and stroke. The technique, reported in the journal Nature Communications, could help in the diagnosis of these conditions in at-risk patients and in the development of new medicines. Atherosclerosis - hardening of the arteries - is a potentially serious condition where arteries become clogged by a build-up of fatty deposits known as ‘plaques’. One of the key constituents in these deposits is calcium. In some people, pieces from the calcified artery can break away - if the artery supplies the brain or heart with blood, this can lead to stroke or heart attack. “Hardening, or ‘furring’, of the arteries can lead to very serious disease, but it’s not clear why the plaques are stable in some people but unstable in others,” explains Professor David Newby, the BHF John Wheatley Professor of Cardiology at the Centre for Cardiovascular Science, University of Edinburgh. “We need to find new methods of identifying those patients at greatest risk from unstable plaques.” 2015-07-10T15:49:19+00:00 http://www.health.am/vein/more/blood-vessels-in-the-brain/ A star-shaped brain cell called an astrocyte appears to help keep blood pressure and blood flow inside the brain on a healthy, even keel, scientists report. Like a health-care worker keeping tabs on a patient’s blood pressure, the finger-like appendages of astrocytes, called endfeet, quite literally wrap around the countless, fragile blood vessels in the brain, constantly monitoring what’s going on inside and around them, said Dr. Jessica A. Filosa, neurovascular physiologist in the Department of Physiology at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University. Filosa calls astrocytes “housekeepers” and the new findings indicate that, when they sense a change in blood pressure inside the fragile parenchymal arterioles, one of their many duties is releasing signals that help dilate or constrict the blood vessels, whichever it takes to maintain the healthy status quo. 2015-06-08T16:02:53+00:00 http://www.health.am/vein/more/engineering-new-blood-vessels-in-people/ Scientists moved a step closer toward coaxing the body into producing its own replacement blood vessels after discovering that suppressing parts of the innate immune system may raise the chances of a tissue engineered vascular graft’s success. In a report appearing in the May 2015 issue of The FASEB Journal scientists showed that by controlling the reaction that natural killer cells, platelets and the acute inflammatory response have to the graft, they could also reduce the abnormal narrowing of the grafts, called stenosis, which is the cause of most failures. This discovery sets the stage for a second, more successful, generation of tissue engineered grafts designed to help regenerate components of the cardiovascular system. “Our aim is to extend these findings toward the development of a safe and effective tissue engineered vascular grafts for the management of congenital heart disease,” said Cameron Best, a researcher involved in the work from the Tissue Engineering and Surgical Research Department at the Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. “We hope that our translational approach is applicable to other areas of regenerative medicine and a model for investigators in the field.” Best and colleagues made this discovery by observing that immunodeficient mice mount a blunted acute inflammatory response to implanted tissue engineered vascular grafts and that stenosis, or narrowing of the blood vessel, did not occur. Researchers then treated normal (wild type) mice with either a natural killer cell depleting antibody or anti-platelet drugs and found that the rate of stenosis in each of these models was about half of that observed in the normal, untreated, mouse. This suggests that the combined effects of acute inflammation, natural killer cells and platelets are critical to tissue engineered vascular graft performance. 2015-04-30T17:46:46+00:00 http://www.health.am/vein/more/creating-artificial-blood-vessels/ Blocked blood vessels can quickly become dangerous. It is often necessary to replace a blood vessel - either by another vessel taken from the body or even by artificial vascular prostheses. Together, Vienna University of Technology and Vienna Medical University have developed artificial blood vessels made from a special elastomer material, which has excellent mechanical properties. Over time, these artificial blood vessels are replaced by endogenous material. At the end of this restorative process, a natural, fully functional vessel is once again in place. The method has already been used successfully in rats. Arteriosclerotic vascular disorders are one of the most common causes of death in industrialized countries. In this situation a bypass operation is often the only solution. Normally, blood vessels are taken from another part of the patient’s body and used to replace the damaged vessel. Thanks to a joint project undertaken by TU Wien and the Medical University of Vienna, artificially manufactured vessels should be used more frequently in future. The most important thing is to find a suitable material. The artificial materials that have been used so far are not ideally compatible with body tissue. The blood vessel can easily become blocked, especially if it is only small in diameter. 2015-04-28T17:20:21+00:00 http://www.health.am/vein/more/building-a-better-blood-vessel/ The tangled highway of blood vessels that twists and turns inside our bodies, delivering essential nutrients and disposing of hazardous waste to keep our organs working properly has been a conundrum for scientists trying to make artificial vessels from scratch. Now a team from Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) has made headway in fabricating blood vessels using a three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting technique. The study is published online this month in Lab on a Chip. “Engineers have made incredible strides in making complex artificial tissues such as those of the heart, liver and lungs,” said senior study author, Ali Khademhosseini, PhD, biomedical engineer, and director of the BWH Biomaterials Innovation Research Center. “However, creating artificial blood vessels remains a critical challenge in tissue engineering. We’ve attempted to address this challenge by offering a unique strategy for vascularization of hydrogel constructs that combine advances in 3D bioprinting technology and biomaterials.” The researchers first used a 3D bioprinter to make an agarose (naturally derived sugar-based molecule) fiber template to serve as the mold for the blood vessels. They then covered the mold with a gelatin-like substance called hydrogel, forming a cast over the mold which was then reinforced via photocrosslinks. 2014-05-30T22:04:57+00:00 http://www.health.am/vein/more/gene-therapy-method-targets/ Working in mice, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report developing a gene delivery method long sought in the field of gene therapy: a deactivated virus carrying a gene of interest that can be injected into the bloodstream and make its way to the right cells. In this early proof-of-concept study, the scientists have shown that they can target tumor blood vessels in mice without affecting healthy tissues. “Most current gene therapies in humans involve taking cells out of the body, modifying them and putting them back in,” said David T. Curiel, MD, PhD, distinguished professor of radiation oncology. “This limits gene therapy to conditions affecting tissues like the blood or bone marrow that can be removed, treated and returned to the patient. Today, even after 30 years of research, we can’t inject a viral vector to deliver a gene and have it go to the right place.” But now, investigators at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine say they have designed a “targetable injectable vector” – a deactivated virus that homes in on the inner lining of tumor blood vessels and does not get stuck in the liver, a problem that has plagued past attempts. 2013-12-24T08:27:00+00:00 http://www.health.am/vein/more/blood-vessels-reorganize/ For the first time, researchers have found that the blood vessels in face transplant recipients reorganize themselves, leading to an understanding of the biologic changes that happen after full face transplantation. The results of this study were presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). Face transplantation is a recent development in reconstructive surgery for patients who have lost some or all of their face from injury or disease. The first full face transplantation in the United States was carried out at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston in 2011. Hospital specialists subsequently performed full face transplantations on three additional patients. As part of the procedure, surgeons connect the patient’s major arteries and veins to those from a donor face, or facial allograft, to ensure healthy circulation in the transplanted tissue. Because the technology is new, not much is known about the vascular changes that help blood penetrate, or perfuse, into the transplanted tissue. The development of new blood vessel networks in transplanted tissue is critical to the success of face transplant surgery. “All three patients included in this study at Brigham and Women’s maintain excellent perfusion, or blood flow, the key element of viability of the facial tissues and the restoration of form and function to those individuals who otherwise had no face,” said study co-author Frank J. Rybicki, M.D., Ph.D., FAHA, FACR, director of the hospital’s Applied Imaging Science Laboratory. “We assumed that the arterial blood supply and venous blood return was simply from the connections of the arteries and the veins at the time of the surgery.” 2013-12-03T22:26:00+00:00 http://www.health.am/vein/more/btgs-varicose-vein-treatment/ British pharmaceutical firm BTG said U.S. regulators had approved its varicose vein treatment that uses an injectable foam to dissolve the veins as an alternative to surgical removal. Varithena, previously known as Varisolve, has taken more than a decade to win approval, as the company had to answer concerns that the active agent in the product polidocanol could enter the bloodstream. The company, which had expected a decision from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the first half of next year, has previously said global sales of Varithena could reach $500 million a year. Chief Executive Louise Makin said on Tuesday the product would set a new standard for the treatment of both the symptoms and appearance of varicose veins. 2013-11-26T07:08:00+00:00 http://www.health.am/vein/more/blood-vessel-tangles-in-brain-best-left-alone/ Patients with a condition that causes blood vessels in the brain to form an abnormal tangle could be helped by the findings of new research. An international patient trial suggests that the safest way of managing arteriovenous malformations (AVM) of the brain is to treat the patient’s symptoms only, and not the AVM. People with an AVM - causing disrupted blood flow in the brain – are three times more likely to suffer stroke from the AVM bursting or die within three years if the tangled vessels are treated, researchers found. An AVM occurs when blood passes directly from arteries to veins - normally arteries carry blood from the heart to the brain, while veins take blood back in the opposite direction. 2013-11-20T22:44:00+00:00