New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Science News
from research organizations

New Approach To Limiting Organ Damage In Sickle Cell Disease

Date:
April 3, 2008
Source:
Journal of Clinical Investigation
Summary:
The abnormal shape of the red blood cells of individuals with sickle cell disease prevents them passing easily through blood vessels, which can become obstructed, restricting blood flow to an organ and causing organ damage. New data, generated using a mouse model of SCD, have indicated that the drug bosentan prevents blood vessel obstruction and led to the suggestion that bosentan might be of benefit to individuals with SCD.
Share:
FULL STORY

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is so called because of the abnormal sickle shape of the red blood cells in individuals with this blood disorder.

The abnormal shape of the red blood cells prevents them passing easily through blood vessels, which can become obstructed such that blood flow to an organ is restricted, causing pain and organ damage.

An episode of blood vessel obstruction is known as a vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC) and a new study, performed by Pierre-Louis Tharaux and colleagues, at INSERM U689, France, has indicated that a drug known as bosentan prevents experimentally induced VOC in a mouse model of SCD.

In vivo analysis indicated that during experimentally induced VOC, blood vessel resistance was increased through a process mediated by the protein endothelin. As bosentan, which is used to treat individuals with pulmonary arterial hypertension, is a drug that acts as an antagonist of both endothelin receptors, the authors assessed its ability to treat experimentally induced VOC in a mouse model of SCD.

The drug was found to have many beneficial effects that cumulated to prevent the death of the mice, leading to the suggestion that bosentan might provide a new way to limit VOC, and thereby organ damage, in individuals with SCD.

Journal reference: Endothelin receptor antagonism prevents hypoxia-induced mortality and morbitity in a mouse model of sickle-cell disease. Journal of Clinical Investigation. April 1, 2008.


Story Source:

Materials provided by Journal of Clinical Investigation. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Cite This Page:

Journal of Clinical Investigation. "New Approach To Limiting Organ Damage In Sickle Cell Disease." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 3 April 2008. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401184918.htm>.
Journal of Clinical Investigation. (2008, April 3). New Approach To Limiting Organ Damage In Sickle Cell Disease. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 29, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401184918.htm
Journal of Clinical Investigation. "New Approach To Limiting Organ Damage In Sickle Cell Disease." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401184918.htm (accessed March 29, 2024).

Explore More

from ScienceDaily

RELATED STORIES