Metabolism of the arterial wall—influence of atherosclerosis and drugs

Effect of trifluoperazine on certain arterial wall lipid‐metabolizing enzymes inducing atherosclerosis in rhesus monkeys

“…In experimental animals as well as humans, the metabolic activity of the arterial wall constitutes an approach for evalu-ating the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis (5). The arterial wall and its main structural component, the smooth muscle cell, are metabolically active tissue; hence it is anticipated that most enzymes characteristic of living matter are to be found in this tissue and that their activities are affected by changes in the microenvironment (6). Many membrane-active compounds known to inhibit transition from bilayer to micellar domains within membranes, such as chloroquine, 17-β estradiol and chlorpromazine, can suppress the formation of atheromatous lesions by changing the microenvironment of the arterial wall (7)(8)(9).…”