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Advances in Drugs and Therapy for Cardiovascular Disease: From the Researcher's Desk to the Patient's Bedside

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Mohammad Alkhalil

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Guest Editor

1. Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, Division of Cardiology, Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
2. Cardiothoracic Centre, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
3. Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
Interests: atherosclerosis; myocardial Infarction; interventional cardiology; magnetic resonance Imaging

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Over the last three decades, significant improvement has been achieved in reducing cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Nonetheless, one in five patients returns with a second event within 5 years despite being on guidelines of recommended optimal medical therapy. This residual risk is heterogeneous, but characterising the atherosclerosis process allowed tailored therapy and precise intervention at an individual level to reduce cardiovascular residual risk. Recent advances in pharmacotherapy have enabled physicians to target the main atherosclerotic-related risks, namely lipid, thrombosis, and inflammation and subsequent heart failure

This Special Issue will discuss recent advances in cardiovascular drugs and their impact on future outcomes in patients presenting with acute coronary syndrome. You are cordially invited to submit an Original Article or Review Article focusing on related topics to contribute to the next Special Issue entitled “Advances in Drugs and Therapy for Cardiovascular Disease: From the Researcher's Desk to the Patient's Bedside”.

Dr. Mohammad Alkhalil
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Clinical Medicine is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

cardiovascular disease
coronary heart disease (CHD)
acute coronary syndrome (ACS)
acute myocardial infarction
unstable angina
drugs
antiplatelet therapy
lipid-lowering therapy
antithrombotic therapy
percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)
side effects
bleeding risk

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Review

6 pages, 244 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Advances in Cardiovascular Pharmacology in Atherosclerotic-Related Therapeutic Areas: Addressing Patients’ Clinical Needs

by Muntaser Omari and Mohammad Alkhalil

J. Clin. Med. 2023, 12(11), 3665; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm12113665 - 25 May 2023

Viewed by 1211

Abstract

Over the last three decades, a significant improvement has been achieved in reducing cardiovascular morbidity and mortality [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Drugs and Therapy for Cardiovascular Disease: From the Researcher's Desk to the Patient's Bedside)

Review

Jump to: Editorial

19 pages, 3442 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperReview

Fractalkine Signalling (CX₃CL1/CX₃CR1 Axis) as an Emerging Target in Coronary Artery Disease

by Shu Xian Loh, Yasemin Ekinci, Luke Spray, Visvesh Jeyalan, Thomas Olin, Gavin Richardson, David Austin, Mohammad Alkhalil and Ioakim Spyridopoulos

J. Clin. Med. 2023, 12(14), 4821; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm12144821 - 21 Jul 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2626

Abstract

Acute myocardial infarction (MI) is the most common and dramatic complication of atherosclerosis, which, despite successful reperfusion therapy, can lead to incident heart failure (HF). HF occurs when the healing process is impaired due to adverse left ventricular remodelling, and can be the result of so-called ischaemia/reperfusion injury (IRI), visualised by the development of intramyocardial haemorrhage (IMH) or microvascular obstruction (MVO) in cardiac MRI. Thus far, translation of novel pharmacological strategies from preclinical studies to target either IRI or HF post MI have been largely unsuccessful. Anti-inflammatory therapies also carry the risk of affecting the immune system. Fractalkine (FKN, CX₃CL1) is a unique chemokine, present as a transmembrane protein on the endothelium, or following cleavage as a soluble ligand, attracting leukocyte subsets expressing the corresponding receptor CX₃CR1. We have shown previously that the fractalkine receptor CX₃CR1 is associated with MVO in patients undergoing primary PCI. Moreover, inhibition of CX₃CR1 with an allosteric small molecule antagonist (KAND567) in the rat MI model reduces acute infarct size, inflammation, and IMH. Here we review the cellular biology of fractalkine and its receptor, along with ongoing studies that introduce CX₃CR1 as a future target in coronary artery disease, specifically in patients with myocardial infarction. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Drugs and Therapy for Cardiovascular Disease: From the Researcher's Desk to the Patient's Bedside)

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14 pages, 711 KiB

Open AccessReview

The Emerging Role of Icosapent Ethyl in Patients with Cardiovascular Disease: Mechanistic Insights and Future Applications

by Ashish Gupta and Mohammad Alkhalil

J. Clin. Med. 2023, 12(11), 3758; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm12113758 - 30 May 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2277

Abstract

Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) were early established as therapeutic option for patients with high triglyceride levels. Their effects on lipoprotein particles, including a reduction in very low-density lipoprotein and a shift from small to large low-density lipoprotein, is increasingly recognised. This is coupled with their ability to be incorporated within the cellular membrane, leading to plaque stability and anti-inflammatory effects. Nonetheless, recent clinical trials have not been consistent in demonstrating the potential cardioprotective effects of omega-3 fatty acids. This is despite the circumstantial evidence from imaging studies illustrating the stabilising effects on atherosclerotic plaques and slowing of plaque progression. In this article, we will review the effects of omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), on lipid biomarkers, atherosclerotic plaque features, and clinical outcome studies and provide a mechanistic role in managing residual risk of atherosclerosis. This will provide better insight into the inconsistency of the recently reported clinical outcome studies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Drugs and Therapy for Cardiovascular Disease: From the Researcher's Desk to the Patient's Bedside)

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