1998) demonstrating a potential for antioxidants to stabilize vulnerable plaques. In a rabbit model, NAC reduced angioplasty-induced vascular inflammation, thrombus formation, and laminal damage (Mass et al. 1995). In hypertensive rats, NAC administration was partially

protective against peroxynitrite-induced aortic vascular dysfunction related to Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical hypertension (Cabassi et al. 2001). In a rat model with ischemic heart, NAC provided protection to ischemic and reperfusion injury in part by inhibiting adhesion Selleckchem Protease Inhibitor Library molecules (Cuzzocrea et al. 2000a). In patients with elevated remnant-like lipoprotein (RLP), adhesion molecules levels decreased after treatment with another antioxidant, a-tocopherol (Cabassi et al. 2001). In cultured endothelial cells, NAC decreased RLP-induced Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical adhesion molecules by 50–70% and repaired endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation (Doi et al. 2000). A clinical trial showed that daily oral NAC administration at 1.2 mg dose increased GSH and decreased plasma vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) levels in noninsulin-dependent diabetic patients Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical (De Mattia et al. 1998). In the previous studies, NAC supplementation significantly improved coronary and peripheral vasodilatation by enhancing the effects of NO (Andrews et al. 2001). Role of NAC in neural cell survival and antiapoptotic activities Oxidative

stress causes encoded cell death or apoptosis in several pathological processes such as aging, inflammation, carcinogenesis, and neurodegeneration (Chandra et al. 2000). Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Studies of various cell types showed NAC growth-promoting activities. NAC increases concanavalin A-induced mitogenesis and simultaneously reduces apoptosis of

B-lymphocytes (Li et al. 1999; Martin et al. 2000). Interestingly, NAC and dithiothreitol (DTT) block apoptosis of endothelial cells by LPS (Abello et al. 1994). Ox-LDL-induced superoxide production and apoptosis of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were blocked by NAC (Galle et al. 1999). In contrast with endothelial cells, NAC induced apoptosis and reduced viability of rat and human VSMCs Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical (Tsai et al. 1996). NAC was found to maintain VSMCs in inactive state, and its removal led to their return into the cell cycle (Lee et al. 1998). During investigation of the mechanisms of hyperhomocysteinemia-associated atherosclerosis, NAC suppressed homocysteine-stimulated collagen production and proliferation of VSMCs (Tyagi 1998). Such Ketanserin selective impact of NAC can be useful for blocking proliferation of VSMCs in atherosclerosis and lesions prone to restenosis (Yan and Greene 1998; Shirvan et al. 2000). NAC also prevented tumor necrosis factor (TNF)- and thrombin-induced neuronal cell death (Talley et al. 1995; Sarker et al. 1999). Arabinoside-induced neuron apoptosis and neurotoxicity were inhibited in vitro by NAC through ROS inhibition (Geller et al. 2001), a mechanism that supports survival of neurons.