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(Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 2004;24:801.)
© 2004 American Heart Association, Inc.

Editorials

Protective Role of Imatinib in Atherosclerosis

Takashi Kadowaki; Naoto Kubota

From the Department of Metabolic Diseases, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Japan.

Correspondence to Takashi Kadowaki, Department of Metabolic Diseases, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan. E-mail kadowaki-3im@h.u-tokyo.ac.jp

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

The "metabolic syndrome," also known as the insulin resistance syndrome or syndrome X, provides an effective framework for investigating the increased cardiovascular risk factors and adverse events related to atherosclerosis.^1–3 Metabolic syndrome includes obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and impaired glucose tolerance. An increasing body of evidence in both human and mouse studies now suggests that insulin resistance plays a key role in the metabolic syndrome and contributes to the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes.^4–6 In type 2 diabetes, macrovascular and microvascular diseases are the most common causes of morbidity and mortality. According to epidemiological studies, patients with type 2 diabetes are 2 to 4 times more likely to develop macrovascular diseases than nondiabetics.⁷ With this background, prevention measures should be implemented to control the development of atherosclerosis. Such measures would benefit not only patients having atherosclerosis but also high-risk groups in the diabetic population. To prevent progression of atherosclerosis, it is of great importance to provide treatments targeting risk factors, such as obesity, hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, and hypertension.

See page 935

Various approaches have been taken to deal with these risk factors. Chronic hyperglycemia is a hallmark of diabetes. According to the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS), there was a 16% decrease in myocardial infarction (MI) incidence in patients with tight glycemic control, a decrease which approached statistical significance.⁸ The Diabetes Mellitus, Insulin Glucose Infusion in Acute Myocardial Infarction (DIGAMI) study showed the mortality to be significantly decreased in diabetic patients whose glycemic control improved after MI.⁹ Dyslipidemia, characterized by increased . . . [Full Text of this Article]