A Symposium From Increased Energy Metabolism To Cardiac Hypertrophy And Failure Mediators And Molecular Mechanisms

World experts in the field offer a focused, clinical approach to heart failure as both a cause and a result of related cardiovascular problems making this an excellent single volume buy. All aspects of this problem are addressed -from its molecular mechanisms through assessment to treatment, including drug therapy, implantable devices, and emerging strategies.

The fields of biological and medical physics and biomedical engineering are broad, multidisciplinary and dyanmic. They lie at the crossroads of frontier - search in physics, biology, chemistry, and medicine. The Biological & Me- cal Physics/Biomedical Engineering Series is intended to be comprehensive, covering a broad range of topics important to the study of the physical, che- cal and biological sciences. Its goal is to provide scientists and engineers with textbooks, monographs, and reference works to address the growing need for information. Books in the series emphasize established and emergent areas of science - cluding molecular, membrane, and mathematical biophysics; photosynthetic - ergy harvesting and conversion; information processing; physical principles of genetics; sensory communications; automata networks, neural networks, and cellular automata. Equally important will be coverage of applied aspects of b- logical and medical physics and biomedical engineering such as molecular el- tronic components and devices, biosensors, medicine, imaging, physical prin- ples of renewable energy production, advanced prostheses, and environmental control and engineering. Elias Greenbaum Oak Ridge, TN M. Zamir Department of Applied Mathematics University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, N6A 5B7 CANADA [email protected] Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Zamir, M. (Mair) The physics of coronary blood flow / M. Zamir. p. cm. — (Biological and medical physics, biomedical engineering) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Coronary circulation. 2. Hemodynamics. 3. Blood flow. I. Title. II. Series. QP108.Z36 2005 612.1?7—dc22 2005042502 ISBN-10: 0-387-25297-5 e-ISBN: 0-387-26019-6 Printed on acid-free paper.

This book offers a comprehensive study of C-reactive protein (CRP) belonging to the pentraxin family, including a brief history of CRP, its structure, synthesis and evolution. Focusing on the emerging role of CRP and its clinical application in the field of disease biology, it details the pathophysiological role of CRP in a host of diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancers, rheumatoid arthritis and infectious diseases and others. It also discusses the role of innate immunity and acute phase response (APR) and their key mediators in the host body in response to tissue injury, infection, trauma or surgery, immunological disorders or neoplastic growth. CRP’s significance in inflammation is highlighted, and its importance as a clinical marker in cardiovascular disease, its functional significance in Leishmania and Plasmodium infections, its association with the development of insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes mellitus, and its role in cancer are discussed in detail. The book also includes clinical data studies and presents the latest research advances to further readers’ understanding of CRP.