APOP­TO­SIS IN CAR­DI­O­VA­SCU­LAR DI­SE­A­SES

Abstract

Apop­to­sis is a spe­cial type of cell de­ath and by its na­tu­re and its bi­o­lo­gical sig­ni­fi­can­ce it is ba­si­cally dif­fe­rent from nec­ro­sis. It is a ge­ne­ti­cally highly re­gu­la­ted type of cell de­ath which in most ca­ses has a ho­me­osta­tic ro­le. Apop­to­sis has been de­scri­bed in physi­o­lo­gic pro­ces­ses (during em­bryoge­ne­sis, dif­fe­ren­ti­a­tion and im­mu­ne system de­ve­lop­ment and re­gu­la­tion) as well as in pat­ho­lo­gic sta­tes. Dis­tur­ban­ces in pro­grammed cell de­ath and tis­sue ho­me­o­sta­sis form the mo­le­cu­lar and bi­o­lo­gic ba­sis for many di­se­a­ses. In the last ten years spe­cial at­ten­tion has been gi­ven to dis­tur­ban­ces in apop­to­sis in the de­ve­lop­ment of many car­di­o­vascu­lar di­se­a­ses. In this study we ha­ve at­temp­ted to show in a syste­ma­tic fas­hion the morp­ho­lo­gic and mo­le­cu­lar pro­cess in apop­to­sis and its sig­ni­fi­can­ce in the tre­at­ment of car­di­o­va­scu­lar di­se­a­se.