Implications of fundamental signalling alterations in diabetes mellitus-associated cardiovascular disease

Abstract

The chronic diabetes mellitus (DM) is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The incidence of cardiovascular disease might be a foremost cause of morbidity and mortality in patients afflicted with DM. In fact, DM is associated with multi-factorial cardiovascular signalling alterations via significant modulation of expression pattern, activation or release of PI3K, PKB, eNOS, EDRF, NADPH oxidase, EDHF, CGRP, adenosine, iNOS, ROCK, PKC-β2, CaMKII, microRNA (miR)-126 and miR-130a, which could result in inadequate maintenance of cardiovascular physiology and subsequent development of cardiovascular pathology. This review highlights the possible adverse implications of fundamental cardiovascular signalling alteration in DM-associated cardiovascular disease pathology.