Role of mast cells and their chymases in the development of cardiac hypertrophy

心脏肥大或心脏扩大是最终发展为心力衰竭的重要危险因素。现在众所周知，心脏增大可以由高血压的压力超负荷和-或直接输入心脏的激素增加引起。血管紧张素II是一种引起高血压和心脏增大的激素，以前认为它只由ACE酶产生。尽管ACE抑制剂广泛用于治疗高血压和心力衰竭，但现在几项研究表明ACE抑制剂仅部分降低人体中的血管紧张素II水平。我们最近的研究表明，新的酶人糜酶可能参与调节人体组织包括心脏和血管中血管紧张素II的水平。拟议的研究旨在确定糜酶的作用，以及阐述它的细胞类型（肥大细胞），在心脏肥大的发展。

Cardiac hypertrophy or heart enlargement is an important risk factor in the eventual development of heart failure. It is now well known that heart enlargement can be produced by pressure overload of hypertension and-or by increased hormonal inputs directly to the heart. Angiotensin ll, a hormone that produces hypertension and heart enlargement, was previously thought only to be produced by the enzyme ACE. Although ACE inhibitors are widely used in treatment of hypertension and heart failure several studies now show that ACE inhibition only partially reduces angiotensin ll levels in humans. Our ecent studies suggest that the novel enzyme human chymase may be involved in regulating angiotensin ll levels in human tissues including the heart and blood vessels. The proposed studies seek to establish the role of chymase, and the cell type (mast cell) that elaborates it, in the development of cardiac hypertrophy.