[Peptidergic regulation of age-related alterations in the cardiovascular system.]

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) continue to be the leading cause of mortality worldwide. A primary factor in the development of these diseases is age-related physiological changes in the body, affecting, among others, the cardiovascular system. Medications play a key role in the prevention and management of age-related CVDs, among which an important place is occupied by peptides, a special class of molecules capable of modulating various physiological pathways involved in aging processes, including the restoration and regeneration of myocardial vessels. This article presents a review of experimental studies investigating the mechanism of action of a vascular polypeptide preparation (VPP), as well as short peptides: the tripeptide KED, which is a component of VPP and possesses the same biological effects, and the tetrapeptide AEDR, whose biological activity is aimed at restoring myocardial function. The results of experimental studies demonstrated that VPP exhibits specific angioprotective and angiogenic activity in vitro in cultures of human and mouse endothelial cells. In vivo, VPP exerted a physiological effect on vascular wall cells under extreme conditions. The polypeptide preparation also had a pronounced regulatory influence on the hemodynamic parameters of animals: blood pressure, blood flow in the abdominal aorta and carotid artery, and cardiac output. In an in vitro study using endothelial cell cultures from patients with atherosclerosis and restenosis, a significant increase in ET-1 expression was observed compared to that in normal endothelium; the addition of the KED peptide restored ET-1 expression to normal levels in these endothelial cell cultures. The study of the biological properties of the AEDR tetrapeptide revealed its cardioprotective effect, manifested in the preservation of cardiomyocyte viability following coronary artery ligation, the mitigation of calcium chloride-induced arrhythmia manifestations, a reduction in the intensity of lipid peroxidation processes, and a decrease in the development of necrobiotic small-focal adrenaline-induced myocardial dystrophy. The results obtained from preclinical studies of VPP and short peptides suggest that peptide preparations represent a promising group for the prevention and treatment of age-related cardiovascular dysfunctions.