Personalized and Targeted Atherosclerosis Treatments

A special issue of Journal of Personalized Medicine (ISSN 2075-4426).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2018) | Viewed by 33722

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Molecular Pharmacology & Physiology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA

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Guest Editor
Clinical Genomics and Pharmacogenomics Unit, 4th Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Building 15, Mikras Asias 75, 115-27 Athens, Greece
Interests: pharmacogenomics; molecular cardiology; precision medicine
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Atherosclerosis affects millions of individuals worldwide, with a third of all deaths of Americans older than 35 being due to coronary artery disease, and stroke ranking 5th among all causes of death in the US. Despite available treatments, patient response rates are limited, and adverse drug reactions are considerable. The technological and scientific advances over recent years are setting the stage for new generations of atherosclerosis treatments that will be personalized and targeted at the cellular and molecular level. This Special Issue will be focusing on new technologies, concepts and strategies currently pursued towards these goals.

Dr. Hana Totary-Jain
Dr. Despina Sanoudou
Guest editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Personalized Medicine is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • atherosclerosis
  • precision medicine
  • non-coding RNA
  • nanoparticles
  • antibodies
  • reconstituted HDL
  • biomedical engineering

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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21 pages, 2371 KiB  
Article
The Transcriptomic Toolbox: Resources for Interpreting Large Gene Expression Data within a Precision Medicine Context for Metabolic Disease Atherosclerosis
by Caralina Marín de Evsikova, Isaac D. Raplee, John Lockhart, Gilberto Jaimes and Alexei V. Evsikov
J. Pers. Med. 2019, 9(2), 21; https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm9020021 - 29 Apr 2019
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 6429
Abstract
As one of the most widespread metabolic diseases, atherosclerosis affects nearly everyone as they age; arteries gradually narrow from plaque accumulation over time reducing oxygenated blood flow to central and periphery causing heart disease, stroke, kidney problems, and even pulmonary disease. Personalized medicine [...] Read more.
As one of the most widespread metabolic diseases, atherosclerosis affects nearly everyone as they age; arteries gradually narrow from plaque accumulation over time reducing oxygenated blood flow to central and periphery causing heart disease, stroke, kidney problems, and even pulmonary disease. Personalized medicine promises to bring treatments based on individual genome sequencing that precisely target the molecular pathways underlying atherosclerosis and its symptoms, but to date only a few genotypes have been identified. A promising alternative to this genetic approach is the identification of pathways altered in atherosclerosis by transcriptome analysis of atherosclerotic tissues to target specific aspects of disease. Transcriptomics is a potentially useful tool for both diagnostics and discovery science, exposing novel cellular and molecular mechanisms in clinical and translational models, and depending on experimental design to identify and test novel therapeutics. The cost and time required for transcriptome analysis has been greatly reduced by the development of next generation sequencing. The goal of this resource article is to provide background and a guide to appropriate technologies and downstream analyses in transcriptomics experiments generating ever-increasing amounts of gene expression data. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Personalized and Targeted Atherosclerosis Treatments)
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Review

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14 pages, 956 KiB  
Review
Personalized Assessment of the Coronary Atherosclerotic Arteries by Intravascular Ultrasound Imaging: Hunting the Vulnerable Plaque
by Theodore G. Papaioannou, Charalampos Kalantzis, Efstratios Katsianos, Despina Sanoudou, Manolis Vavuranakis and Dimitrios Tousoulis
J. Pers. Med. 2019, 9(1), 8; https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm9010008 - 24 Jan 2019
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 9353
Abstract
The term “vulnerable plaque” is commonly used to refer to an atherosclerotic plaque that is prone to rupture and the formation of thrombosis, which can lead to several cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events. Coronary artery atherosclerosis has a wide variety of different phenotypes among [...] Read more.
The term “vulnerable plaque” is commonly used to refer to an atherosclerotic plaque that is prone to rupture and the formation of thrombosis, which can lead to several cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events. Coronary artery atherosclerosis has a wide variety of different phenotypes among patients who may have a substantially variable risk for plaque rupture and cardiovascular events. Mounting evidence has proposed three distinctive histopathological mechanisms: plaque rupture, plaque erosion and calcified nodules. Studies have demonstrated the characteristics of plaques with high vulnerability such as the presence of a thin fibrous cap, a necrotic lipid-rich core, abundant infiltrating macrophages and neovascularization. However, traditional coronary angiographic imaging fails to determine plaque vulnerability features, and its ability to individualize treatment strategies is limited. In recent decades, catheter-based intravascular ultrasound imaging (IVUS) modalities have been developed to identify vulnerable plaques and ultimately vulnerable patients. The aim is to individualize prediction, prevention and treatment of acute coronary events based on the identification of specific features of high-risk atherosclerotic plaques, and to identify the most appropriate interventional procedures for their treatment. In this context, the aim of this review is to discuss how personalized assessment of coronary atherosclerotic arteries can be achieved by intravascular ultrasound imaging focusing on vulnerable plaque detection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Personalized and Targeted Atherosclerosis Treatments)
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12 pages, 254 KiB  
Review
Current and Emerging Reconstituted HDL-apoA-I and HDL-apoE Approaches to Treat Atherosclerosis
by Eftaxia-Konstantina Valanti, Katerina Dalakoura-Karagkouni and Despina Sanoudou
J. Pers. Med. 2018, 8(4), 34; https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm8040034 - 03 Oct 2018
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 7088
Abstract
Atherosclerosis affects millions of people worldwide. However, the wide variety of limitations in the current therapeutic options leaves much to be desired in future lipid-lowering therapies. For example, although statins, which are the first-line treatment for coronary heart disease (CHD), reduce the risk [...] Read more.
Atherosclerosis affects millions of people worldwide. However, the wide variety of limitations in the current therapeutic options leaves much to be desired in future lipid-lowering therapies. For example, although statins, which are the first-line treatment for coronary heart disease (CHD), reduce the risk of cardiovascular events in a large percentage of patients, they lead to optimal levels of low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) in only about one-third of patients. A new promising research direction against atherosclerosis aims to improve lipoprotein metabolism. Novel therapeutic approaches are being developed to increase the levels of functional high density lipoprotein (HDL) particles. This review aims to highlight the atheroprotective potential of the in vitro synthesized reconstituted HDL particles containing apolipoprotein E (apoE) as their sole apolipoprotein component (rHDL-apoE). For this purpose, we provide: (1) a summary of the atheroprotective properties of native plasma HDL and its apolipoprotein components, apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) and apoE; (2) an overview of the anti-atherogenic functions of rHDL-apoA-I and apoA-I-containing HDL, i.e., natural HDL isolated from transgenic Apoa1−/− × Apoe−/− mice overexpressing human apoA-I (HDL-apoA-I); and (3) the latest developments and therapeutic potential of HDL-apoE and rHDL-apoE. Novel rHDL formulations containing apoE could possibly present enhanced biological functions, leading to improved therapeutic efficacy against atherosclerosis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Personalized and Targeted Atherosclerosis Treatments)
9 pages, 1909 KiB  
Review
40 Years of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: History and Future Directions
by John Canfield and Hana Totary-Jain
J. Pers. Med. 2018, 8(4), 33; https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm8040033 - 01 Oct 2018
Cited by 64 | Viewed by 10074
Abstract
The field of interventional cardiology has evolved significantly since the first percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty was performed 40 years ago. This evolution began with a balloon catheter mounted on a fixed wire and has progressed into bare-metal stents (BMS), first-generation drug-eluting stents (DES), [...] Read more.
The field of interventional cardiology has evolved significantly since the first percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty was performed 40 years ago. This evolution began with a balloon catheter mounted on a fixed wire and has progressed into bare-metal stents (BMS), first-generation drug-eluting stents (DES), second- and third-generation biodegradable polymer-based DES, and culminates with the advent of bioabsorbable stents, which are currently under development. Each step in technological advancement has improved outcomes, while new persisting challenges arise, caused by the stent scaffolds, the polymers employed, and the non-selective cytostatic and cytotoxic drugs eluted from the stents. Despite the promising technological advances made in stent technology, managing the balance between reductions in target lesion revascularization, stent thrombosis, and bleeding remain highly complex issues. This review summarizes the evolution of percutaneous coronary intervention with a focus on vascular dysfunction triggered by the non-selective drugs eluted from various stents. It also provides an overview of the mechanism of action of the drugs currently used in DES. We also discuss the efforts made in developing novel cell-selective drugs capable of inhibiting vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation, migration, and infiltration of inflammatory cells while allowing for complete reendothelialization. Lastly, in the era of precision medicine, considerations of patients’ genetic variance associated with myocardial infarction and in-stent restenosis are discussed. The combination of personalized medicine and improved stent platform with cell-selective drugs has the potential to solve the remaining challenges and improve the care of coronary artery disease patients. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Personalized and Targeted Atherosclerosis Treatments)
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