X-Message-Number: 15495 From: "Jan Coetzee" <> Subject: Crosslinks can be reversed Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2001 00:36:39 -0500 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_002A_01C08B1D.E05D57A0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Crosslinking with enzymes and the use of drugs to remove the links in cryonic suspension may become a reality. Drug Undoes Damage Found in Aging Blood Vessels By Keith Mulvihill NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - An experimental drug has been found to undo age-associated blood vessel damage in monkeys, according to results of a new study. With age, and especially in diabetics, blood vessels tend to stiffen due to an increase in collagen crosslinks, attachments between collagen and glucose (sugar) that may impair collagen flexibility. Collagen is a protein normally present in connective tissue, bone, cartilage and skin. ``Stiffer blood vessels relate to a greater likelihood for an increase in arterial pressure to occur, and increase the workload on the heart as it pumps blood into the arteries,'' said Dr. Edward G. Lakatta, of the National Institutes of Health, in an interview with Reuters Health. In the study, the research team injected six rhesus monkeys with ALT-711 every other day over a 3-week period. ALT-711 is an experimental drug that breaks existing collagen crosslinks. Tests showed that the monkeys' vessels were significantly less stiff 6 weeks after drug treatment was completed and for nearly 6 months thereafter. In addition, measures of heart function improved, according to the report in the January 30th issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. ``The finding suggests (ALT-711) could be a new treatment for high blood pressure, heart failure and certain vascular complications of diabetes'' in humans, according to a statement from the National Institutes of Health. ``(ALT-711) has passed safety tests in humans and studies are under way to determine its effects on vascular stiffness and arterial pressure in humans,'' Lakatta told Reuters Health. ``Prospects in treating humans with ALT-711 are being determined in both ongoing and planned clinical trials in humans. People could get the drug following completion of clinical trial studies,'' he added. SOURCE: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2001;98:1171- ------=_NextPart_000_002A_01C08B1D.E05D57A0 Content-Type: text/html; [ AUTOMATICALLY SKIPPING HTML ENCODING! ] Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=15495