X-Message-Number: 15495
From: "Jan Coetzee" <>
Subject: Crosslinks can be reversed
Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2001 00:36:39 -0500

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

------=_NextPart_000_002A_01C08B1D.E05D57A0
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset="iso-8859-1"


Crosslinking with enzymes and the use of drugs to remove the links in cryonic 
suspension may become a reality.

Drug Undoes Damage Found in Aging Blood Vessels 

By Keith Mulvihill 


NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - An experimental drug has been found to undo 
age-associated blood vessel damage in monkeys, according to results of a new 
study. 


With age, and especially in diabetics, blood vessels tend to stiffen due to an 
increase in collagen crosslinks, attachments between collagen and glucose 
(sugar) that may impair collagen flexibility. Collagen is a protein normally 
present in connective tissue, bone, cartilage and skin. 


``Stiffer blood vessels relate to a greater likelihood for an increase in 
arterial pressure to occur, and increase the workload on the heart as it pumps 
blood into the arteries,'' said Dr. Edward G. Lakatta, of the National 
Institutes of Health, in an interview with Reuters Health. 


In the study, the research team injected six rhesus monkeys with ALT-711 every 
other day over a 3-week period. ALT-711 is an experimental drug that breaks 
existing collagen crosslinks. 


Tests showed that the monkeys' vessels were significantly less stiff 6 weeks 
after drug treatment was completed and for nearly 6 months thereafter. In 
addition, measures of heart function improved, according to the report in the 
January 30th issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 


``The finding suggests (ALT-711) could be a new treatment for high blood 
pressure, heart failure and certain vascular complications of diabetes'' in 
humans, according to a statement from the National Institutes of Health. 


``(ALT-711) has passed safety tests in humans and studies are under way to 
determine its effects on vascular stiffness and arterial pressure in humans,'' 
Lakatta told Reuters Health. 


``Prospects in treating humans with ALT-711 are being determined in both ongoing
and planned clinical trials in humans. People could get the drug following 
completion of clinical trial studies,'' he added. 

SOURCE: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2001;98:1171-  


------=_NextPart_000_002A_01C08B1D.E05D57A0

 Content-Type: text/html;

[ AUTOMATICALLY SKIPPING HTML ENCODING! ] 

Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=15495