Southwestern Internal Medicine Conference: endothelial dysfunction and vascular disease

Vascular endothelial cells, critically situated at the blood-tissue interface, exert important effects on vascular tone and permeability, regulate the coagulation and fibrinolytic systems, mediate translocation of inflammatory cells to the tissue compartment, and modulate proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells. As the physiology of the endothelium has been defined, defects in endothelial function have been identified in association with human disease, and a syndrome of dysfunctional endothelium has been described. Although it remains debatable whether a coherent syndrome of endothelial dysfunction exists, disordered endothelial biology appears to contribute to the pathophysiology of human vascular disease. Identification of specific molecular mechanisms offers potential targets for novel therapeutic interventions, including genetic modification of endothelial cells in vivo.