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The article discusses the urgent need for a national crusade against atherosclerosis in Mexico due to the prevalence of chronic degenerative diseases like obesity, diabetes, and atherosclerotic diseases. The socioeconomic, political, and cultural changes in Mexico have led to a shift in epidemiological profiles, with cardiovascular diseases becoming the leading public health problems. The article highlights the importance of addressing dyslipidemia and other risk factors to combat the cardiovascular disease epidemic in Mexico. [Extracted from the article]

Caveolae are identifiable plasma membrane invaginations. The main structural proteins of caveolae are the caveolins. There are three caveolins expressed in mammals, designated Cav-1, Cav-2, and Cav-3. It has been postulated that Cav-1 acts as a scaffold protein for signaling proteins; these include ion channels, enzymes, and other ligand receptors like membrane-associated estrogen receptor (ER)[alpha] or ER[beta]. Caveolae-associated membrane proteins are involved in regulating some of the rapid estrogenic effects of 17[beta]-estradiol. One important system related to the activity of ER[alpha] and caveolae is the renin-angiotensin system. Angiotensin II (ANG II) has numerous actions in vascular smooth muscle, including modulation of vasomotor tone, cell growth, apoptosis, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt activation, and others. Many proteins associated with caveolae are in close relation with the scaffolding domain of Cav-1 (82-101 amino acid residues). It has been proposed that this peptide may acts as a kinase inhibitor. Therefore, to explore the ability of Cav-1 scaffolding peptide (CSP-1) to regulate ANG 1I function and analyze the relationship between ER[alpha] and ANG II type 1 and 2 ([AT.sub.1] and [AT.sub.2]) receptors, we decided to study the effects of CSP-1 on ANG H-induced intracellular [Ca.sup.2+] kinetics and the effect of 17[beta]-estradiol on this modulation using human smooth muscle cells in culture, intracellular [Ca.sup.2+] concentration measurements, immuno- and double-immunocytochemistry confocal analysis of receptor expression, immunoblot analysis, and immunocoprecipitalion assays to demonstrate coexpression. We hypothesized that CSP-1 inhibits ANG II-mediated increases in intracellular [Ca.sup.2+] concentrations by interfering with intracellular signaling including the PI3K/Akt pathway. We also hypothesize that ATE receptors associate with Cav-1. Our results show that there is a close association of [AT.sub.1], [AT.sub.2], and [ER.sub.[alpha]] with Cav-1 in human medal smooth muscle cells in culture. CSP-1 inhibits ANG II-induced intracellular signaling. estrogen receptors; angiotensin type 1 and 2 receptors; phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase; intracellular signaling; tissue culture; angiotensin receptors

Copyright of Revista Biomedica is the property of Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi; Facultad de Medicina, UADY and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Caveolae are identifiable plasma membrane invaginations. The main structural proteins of caveolae are the caveolins. There are three caveolins expressed in mammals, designated Cay-1, Cav-2, and Cav-3. it has been postulated that Cay-1 acts as a scaffold protein for signaling proteins; these include ion channels, enzymes, aiid other ligand receptors like membrane-associated estrogen receptor (ER)α or ERβ. Caveolae-associated membrane proteins are involved in regulating some of the rapid estrogenic effects of 17β-estradiol. One important system related to the activity of ERα and caveolae is the renin-angiotensin system. Angiotensin II (ANG II) has numerous actions in vascular smooth muscle, including modulation of vasomotor tone, cell growth, apoptosis, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (P13K)/Akt activation, and others. Many proteins associated with caveolae are in close relation with the scaffolding domain of Cay-1 (82-101 amino acid residues). It has been proposed that this peptide may acts as a kinase inhibitor. Therefore, to explore the ability of Cay-1 scaffolding peptide (CSP- 1) to regulate ANG II function and analyze the relationship between ERα and ANG II type 1 and 2 (AT1 and AT2) receptors, we decided to study the effects of CSP-I on ANG II-induced intracellular Ca2+ kinetics and the effect of 17β-estradiol on this modulation using human smooth muscle cells in culture, intracellular Ca2+ concentration measurements, immuno- and double-immunocytochemistry confocal analysis of receptor expression, immunoblot analysis, and immunocoprecipitation assays to demonstrate coexpression. We hypothesized that CSP-I inhibits ANG II-mediated increases in intracellular Ca2+ concentrations by interfering with intracellular signaling including the P13K/Akt pathway. We also hypothesize that AT2 receptors associate with Cay-I. Our results show that there is a close association of AT1, AT2, and ERa with Cay-I in human arterial smooth muscle cells in culture. CSP-I inhibits ANG II-induced intracellular signaling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies have emphasized the importance, of dystrophin-associated protein complex (DAPC) to maintain the vascular function in development of dilated cardiomyopathy in dystrophyc patients has been shown. Previously we postulated the presence of an utrophin associated protein complex (UAPC) in endothelium from umbilical cord vessels. In this work, we demonstrate that utrophin indeed forms a complex, with beta-dystroglycan, epsilon sarcoglycan, caveolin-1, and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) in human umbilical vein endothelial cells, by co-immunoprecipitation and Western blot analysis. Additionally, we observed an increment in the levels of all proteins of complex after mechanical stretching. Interestingly, this stimulus also induced eNOS up-regulation, activation and release from the UAPC and led to a significant increase in nitric oxide production. Finally, we propose that UAPC in HUVECs may play an important role in the regulation of vascular tone during mechanical stress. CONACyT 39542-Q, 144593 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) progression, the intracellular antioxidant defence in RBCs must preserve the integrity of the plasmalemma through NADPH+ generation to obtain a sufficient number of reduced non-protein SH-groups. Here, we studied the activities of enzymes in RBCs that are related to glutathione metabolism under conditions of increasing oxidative stress, which are associated with COPD progression, by increasing cellular damage in vitro with PM2.5, a ROS generator. The study included 43 patients, who were separated according to their GOLD classification into moderate and severe groups, along with 11 healthy volunteers (HV). Blood samples were analysed for G6PD, GAPDH, GPx, and GR. The results showed significant decreases in the oxidation of the G6PD, GR and GPx proteins, resulting in decreased enzymatic activity. By contrast, an increase (p<0.05) in GAPDH was observed, suggesting a pool of ATP on the membrane. However, it is evident that RBCs are damaged during the progression of COPD, although their integrity is preserved, and they retain limited function, thus allowing patient survival without haemolysis.

The cochlear outer hair cells serve a tuning function, and any dysfunction of their electromotile response can be reflected in language disorders. Otoacoustic emissions can be used to determine any dysfunction of these cells. A set of clinical records was established to register the neurological and auditory functioning in 42 children, followed by assessment with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), the Initial Language Test (ILT), the Auditory and Phonetic Discrimination Evaluation (APDE), tests for measuring Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potential (BAEP) and Transient Otoacoustic Emissions (TOAE). Subjects were classified into 3 groups in this study: Control (C; n = 20), Syntactic Phonological Disorder (SPD; n = 17), and those with Phonological Disability (PD; n = 5). BAEP studies showed a clear response when all children were stimulated to 20 dB. TOAE responses displayed clear and significant differences with half-octave band reproducibility for both ears, the largest effect being observed in the right ear. The results that were compared using ANOVA tests, showed that cochlear processing affects the brain language function, playing a critical role in the language phonetic process.

Aromatase CYP19 catalyzes the synthesis of estrogen from androgens in a tissue-specific manner. This enzyme is present in several tissues, including gonads, brain and fatty tissue. More recently, its presence has been described in vessels. Here, we describe the expression of aromatase in human uterine artery and compare its expression with that found in arteries of estrogen-dependent uterine leiomyomata from women. To do this, we employed immunohystochemical and in situ hybridization techniques. We used, a polyclonal antibody raised against the carboxyl terminus of aromatase (ARO) and RNAm probes, of the exon 1 of ARO. We found an increased immunoreactivity of ARO in uterine arteries of patients with leiomyoma as compared with control group. Probe showing positive signal in skin fibroblasts (1b), showed positive hybridization signal in normal artery, while probes with positive signal in placenta (1a), ovary (1c) and testis (1d) were over-expressed in arteries of leiomyomas.