Urocortin 2 in cardiovascular health and disease

Rui Adão; Diana Santos-Ribeiro; Miriam T Rademaker; Adelino F Leite-Moreira; Carmen Brás-Silva

doi:10.1016/j.drudis.2015.02.012

Urocortin 2 in cardiovascular health and disease

Drug Discov Today. 2015 Jul;20(7):906-14. doi: 10.1016/j.drudis.2015.02.012. Epub 2015 Mar 6.

Authors

Rui Adão¹, Diana Santos-Ribeiro¹, Miriam T Rademaker², Adelino F Leite-Moreira¹, Carmen Brás-Silva³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physiology and Cardiothoracic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Alameda Professor Hernâni Monteiro, Porto 4200-319, Portugal.
² Christchurch Heart Institute, Department of Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch, PO Box 4345, Christchurch, New Zealand.
³ Department of Physiology and Cardiothoracic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Alameda Professor Hernâni Monteiro, Porto 4200-319, Portugal; Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: carmensb@med.up.pt.

PMID: 25748088
DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2015.02.012

Abstract

Urocortin (Ucn)-2 - corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 2 signaling has favorable effects in the cardiovascular system, including coronary vasodilatation, with increased coronary blood flow and conductance and augmented cardiac contractility and output, as well as protection against ischemia/reperfusion injury. Indeed, several animal studies have confirmed the salutary therapeutic effects of Ucn-2 in chronic heart failure, with improvements in cardiac performance and animal survival. In addition, recent clinical trials have demonstrated the benefits of Ucn-2 in patients with stable chronic heart failure on optimal medical therapy.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Cardiovascular Agents / chemistry
Cardiovascular Agents / therapeutic use*
Cardiovascular System / drug effects*
Cardiovascular System / metabolism
Cardiovascular System / physiopathology
Chronic Disease
Heart Failure / drug therapy*
Heart Failure / metabolism
Heart Failure / physiopathology
Humans
Protein Conformation
Receptors, Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone / agonists
Receptors, Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone / metabolism
Signal Transduction / drug effects
Structure-Activity Relationship
Urocortins / chemistry
Urocortins / metabolism
Urocortins / therapeutic use*

Substances

Cardiovascular Agents
Receptors, Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone
Urocortins