Cardiovascular products

Polyurethanes as Biomaterials. Much of the progress in cardiovascular devices can be attributed to advances in preparing biostable polyurethanes. Biostable polycarbonate-based polyurethane materials such as Corethane (9) and ChronoFlex (10) offer far-reaching capabiUties to cardiovascular products. These and other polyurethane materials offer significant advantages for important long-term products, such as implantable ports, hemodialysis, and peripheral catheters pacemaker interfaces and leads and vascular grafts. 

On the supply side, patents allow the innovating company considerable discretion in pricing their new products. However, new products may be complements or substitutes of those of rival companies. In reality, pharmaceutical firms operate in oligopolistic markets characterized by a limited number of competitors (especially in submarkets such as that of cardiovascular products, for example), differentiated products and competitive innovation strategies. 

Departmentalization by product organizes all funchons needed to make and markef a parhcular product under one person. For example, in the pharmaceuhcal industry, the brand manager for a producf is in charge of the marketing, research, and development funchons related to fhe producf. This allows for a coordinated and directed effort in the sales and development of the brand. Further classificahons also exist, in which the company may have several cardiovascular products and may have several brand managers within the cardiovascular group. 

An interesting set of central nervous system properties has also been discovered and studied (Table VI-10). The work devoted to piscaine must be emphasized besides finding hypnotic properties of 2-amino-4-phenyl-thiazole on fish, the authors studied the structure of the metabolite, as well as the localization of the (radio labeled) metabolic product in various organs. Recently, thiazol-4-yl methoxyamine was shown to inhibit the development of morphine tolerance (1607). 5-Aminothiazole derivatives such as 419a were proposed as cardiovascular agents (1608, 1610). Substitution of the 5-aminothiazole radical on the cephalophosphorin structure gives a series of antibacterial products (1609). 

Thus, it is apparent that soya, some soya products and linseed oil influence blood lipid levels, particularly cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. While the extent of the reduction appears to largely depend on an individual s initial serum cholesterol level, the maximum reductions observed are of the order of 10-15%. For hyperlipidemic individuals this may not be a marked reduction, but such an effect on the general population may well have a beneficial effect on the overall incidence of cardiovascular disease and atherosclerosis. The possibility that non-phytoestrogenic dietary components may contribute to the hypocholes-terolemic properties cannot, however, be discounted. Indeed, certain types of dietary fibre have been shown to have a hypolipidemic effect via their ability to increase faecal excretion rates. 

Insulin resistance occurs when the normal response to a given amount of insulin is reduced. Resistance of liver to the effects of insulin results in inadequate suppression of hepatic glucose production insulin resistance of skeletal muscle reduces the amount of glucose taken out of the circulation into skeletal muscle for storage and insulin resistance of adipose tissue results in impaired suppression of lipolysis and increased levels of free fatty acids. Therefore, insulin resistance is associated with a cluster of metabolic abnormalities including elevated blood glucose levels, abnormal blood lipid profile (dyslipidemia), hypertension, and increased expression of inflammatory markers (inflammation). Insulin resistance and this cluster of metabolic abnormalities is strongly associated with obesity, predominantly abdominal (visceral) obesity, and physical inactivity and increased risk for type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular and renal disease, as well as some forms of cancer. In addition to obesity, other situations in which insulin resistance occurs includes... 

Melanocortin peptides are potent anti-inflammatory agents displaying beneficial effects in diseases ranging from cardiovascular to arthritis to obesity to name a few. Within an inflammatory context, they have the ability to switch off early production of cytokines and at later stages they increase levels of anti-inflammatory proteins that lead to the resolution of the host inflammatory response potentially restoring homeostasis to the tissue. They could eventually be viewed as an alternative to glucocorticoids, as their mode of action often resembles that seen... 

---