BACKGROUND: Recent studies have suggested that the Rho/Rho-kinase mediated pathway (Rho-kinase pathway) regulates the vasomotion of arteries in pathological conditions. However, it remains unclear regarding whether this pathway regulates the coronary vasomotion of atherosclerotic lesions. METHODS AND RESULTS: The coronary diameter at the concentric stenotic site, which is considered to reflect the whole circumferential atherosclerosis, in patients with stable angina pectoris (SAP; n=11) and the control site in patients with SAP and chest pain syndrome (CPS; n=9), was measured at baseline and after the intracoronary administration of nitroglycerin (200 microg) and the subsequent intravenous infusion of fasudil (30 mg for 30 min), a Rho-kinase inhibitor, during coronary angiography. The change in the diameter with fasudil at the concentric stenotic site (22.0+/-10.0%) was significantly higher than that with nitroglycerin (4.7+/-6.0%, p<0.001) in patients with SAP. Meanwhile, the vasodilatory effect of nitroglycerin and fasudil at the control site was similar in both group of patients (25.5+/-17.3% and 21.9+/-14.9% in SAP and 34.4+/-20.8% and 33.2+/-23.6% in CPS, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The vasodilatory effect of the subsequent administration of fasudil surpassed that of nitroglycerin at the concentric coronary stenosis in patients with SAP, thus suggesting that the Rho-kinase pathway regulates the coronary vasomotion of atherosclerotic lesions.
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Otsuka et al. (2006) studied this question.
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