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(Circulation Research. 2006;98:4.)
© 2006 American Heart Association, Inc.

Editorials

Molecular Basis of Angiopathy in Diabetes Mellitus

Jean-Sébastien Silvestre, Bernard I. Lévy

From the Centre for Cardiovascular Research Lariboisière; INSERM Unit 689, Paris, France.

Correspondence to Bernard I. Lévy, Centre for Cardiovascular Research Lariboisière; INSERM Unit 689, 41 Bd de la Chapelle, 75475 Paris Cedex 10, France. E-mail: levy@larib.inserm.fr

See related article, pages 55–62

Key Words: diabetes • Ischemia • angiogenesis • PDGF-BB

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

	Introduction

 
Cardiovascular complications are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with diabetes mellitus; up to 80% of deaths in patients with diabetes are closely associated with vascular disease. The ability of the organism to form a collateral network of blood vessels constitutes an important response to vascular occlusive disease and determines to a large part the clinical consequences and severity of tissue ischemia. The development of new vessels is significantly reduced in diabetic patients with coronary or peripheral artery disease.^1,2 This probably contributes to the severe course of limb ischemia in diabetic patients, in which peripheral artery disease often results in foot ulceration and lower extremity amputation.

Diabetic retinopathy remains one of the major causes of acquired blindness in developed nations. This is true despite the development of laser treatment, which can prevent blindness in the majority of those who develop macular edema or proliferative diabetic retinopathy. The hallmark of diabetic retinopathy is the lack of microvessels in the macula, leading to hypoxia, associated with peripheral retinal neovascularization that may ultimately cause severe vitreous cavity bleeding and/or retinal detachment. The factors that stimulate retinal blood vessel growth have not been fully defined, but there is accumulating evidence that the renin-angiotensin-bradykinin system (RAKS) may be involved in a number of retinal vascular disorders, including retinopathy of prematurity and proliferative diabetic retinopathy^3,4

Only a few studies have specifically evaluated the effect of diabetes on angiogenesis in ischemic vascular disease and in the retina. Moreover, the mechanisms by which diabetes could . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Related Article:

Diabetic Microangiopathy in Ischemic Limb Is a Disease of Disturbance of the Platelet-Derived Growth Factor-BB/Protein Kinase C Axis but Not of Impaired Expression of Angiogenic Factors

Mitsugu Tanii, Yoshikazu Yonemitsu, Takaaki Fujii, Yasunori Shikada, Ri-ichiro Kohno, Mitsuho Onimaru, Shinji Okano, Makoto Inoue, Mamoru Hasegawa, Toshihiro Onohara, Yoshihiko Maehara, and Katsuo Sueishi
Circ. Res. 2006 98: 55-62. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]