Future Science Group

Smoking and Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease

BMM cover

Biomarkers in Medicine
4 Article Collection 2009-2010

Smoking and Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)

The journal Biomarkers in Medicine (ISSN 1752-0363) has published a series of four review articles concerned with smoking and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD). These articles will provide comprehensive insight into the association between smoking and the development of CVD in both men and women.

In four parts the article collection covers:

Part I presents an overview of the current knowledge on the pathology and pathophysiology of atherosclerosis
Part II summarizes the role of cigarette smoking in CVD with a focus on hematologic and biochemical biomarkers
Part III deals with functional biomarkers of CVD, such as heart rate, ventricular function and exercise performance, which are influenced by smoking, the behavior of these biomarkers in adult smokers and the effects of smoking cessation on these biomarkers
Part IV summarizes the effects of genetic factors associated with smoking-related changes in atherosclerotic disease and closes with a discussion section and an outlook to the future

Authors Martin Unverdorben (Centre for Cardiovascular Disease), Klaus von Holt (Toxicology Consultant), and Bernhard R Winkelmann (Clinphenomics GmbH) spent two years concluding that the number of biomarkers required in the future will need to increase with the intervention and refinement of more sophisticated analytical methods, including protein-expression profiling and genetic analyses. The challenge, however, will be relating the findings to each other and identifying and understanding their interactions to more accurately predict the cardiovascular risk from atherosclerotic disease. Ultimately, this enhanced insight in the disease process should result in the development of targeted early preventive and therapeutic measures that would reduce morbidity and mortality from atherosclerotic disease.

The authors commented “When we decided to perform research on the cardiovascular risk of cigarette smoking without using the ethically questionable and time-consuming hard end point studies, we were intimidated by the endless number of publications available on biomarkers and the Herculean task it was to obtain at least a minimum understanding of the field. That is why we decided to write this four-part review series, which was judged by one of the reviewers as ‘…the most comprehensive, though succinct, overview of cardiovascular biomarker research related to cigarette smoking as of today’”

The collection includes the following articles:

The authors summarized “The papers describe that research on cigarette smoking mainly uses biomarkers that are well known and accepted in the cardiovascular arena. Only a few smoking-specific biomarkers add value to that research. Although most of these biomarkers provide pathogenetic insight into cigarette smoking-related cardiovascular disease, only a few have been shown to qualify as (independent) prognostic markers. The papers emphasize clarity where clarity exists but do not hesitate from drawing firm conclusions where that is not possible. Hence, the papers ease the entry of a novice into the field, while experts are enticed to dive deeper into the subject, supported by references to papers with small numbers of patients but with innovative methodologies. Sophisticated, innovative and cross-specialty study designs across the various arenas of biomarker research (e.g., biochemistry, hematology, functional biomarkers and genetics) will alleviate the need for more costly and time-consuming studies requiring the enrollment of large subject numbers in the future.”

To purchase a single article please click the article of interest and you will be guided through the purchasing process. Alternatively all 4 articles as a collection are available to buy for $150 by emailing info@futuremedicine.com, quoting BMMCVD10 – a representative will be in touch to process your order.

Any questions about the collection of Biomarkers in Medicine then please do not hesitate to contact info@futuremedicine.com – we will be happy to help.