Edited by Raffaele De Caterina and Peter Libby. 416 pp., illustrated. Malden, MA, Blackwell Futura, 2007. $134.95. ISBN 978-1-4051-2208-5.
The vascular endothelium is a metabolically active organ systemthat helps to maintain vascular homeostasis. In addition tobeing an anatomical barrier that prevents the influx of circulatingblood into the vessel wall, the endothelium modulates vasculartone, regulates local cellular growth and the deposition ofextracellular matrix, protects the vessel from the potentiallyharmful consequences of toxic substances and cells that circulatein the blood, and mediates hemostatic, inflammatory, and reparativeresponses to local injury. Conditions such as hypercholesterolemia,systemic hypertension, diabetes, problems that are caused bysmoking, and estrogen deficiency are associated with endothelialdysfunction, which may promote . . . [Full Text of this Article]
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