Evolution of novel small-molecule therapeutics targeting sickle cell vasculopathy.

ABSTRACT: A 34-year-old African American woman with sickle cell disease and history of relatively severe hemolysis, chronic leg ulcers, and mild pulmonary hypertension presented with a new ischemic stroke. Recent research has suggested a syndrome of hemolysis-associated vasculopathy in patients with sickle cell disease, which features severe hemolytic anemia and leads to scavenging of nitric oxide and its biochemical precursor l-arginine. This diminished bioavailability of nitric oxide promotes a hemolysis-vascular dysfunction syndrome, which includes pulmonary hypertension, cutaneous leg ulceration, priapism, and ischemic stroke. Additional correlates of this vasculopathy include activation of endothelial cell adhesion molecules, platelets, and the vascular protectant hemeoxygenase-1. Some known ri

SUBMITTER: Kato GJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2756016 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature