Gene therapy for cardiovascular disorders: is there a future?
Incidence of cardiovascular disease has reached epidemic proportions in spite of recent advances in improving the efficacy of pharmacotherapeutics. This has led many to conclude that drug therapy has reached a plateau in its effectiveness. As a result, our efforts have been diverted to explore the use of gene transfer approaches for long-term control of these pathophysiological conditions. The purpose of this review is to present various approaches that are being undertaken to provide "proof of principle" for gene therapy for cardiovascular diseases. Finally, we will discuss the future of gene therapy and other new technologies that may further advance this field of therapeutics.
Metcalfe
B L
BL
Department of Physiology and Functional Genomics, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville 32610, USA.
Sellers
K W
KW
Jeng
M J
MJ
Huentelman
M J
MJ
Katovich
M J
MJ
Raizada
M K
MK
D000818:Animals; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000628:therapy*; D015316:Genetic Therapy / Q000639:trends*; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D006801:Humans