The United States of America, As Represented by the Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services

Other

Toren Finkel

Stephen E Epstein

Ronald G Crystal

Steven M Pincus

Arshed A Quyyumi

Lorne F Erdile

Yi Fu Zhou

Jianhui Zhu

Jonathan M Hill

Raul G Guzman

Edith Speir

A method for diagnosing decreased vascular function is disclosed. The method includes assaying the number of endothelial progenitor cells. A method for detecting increased cardiovascular risk is also disclosed, as is a method for diagnosing atherosclerosis. In one example, the methods include assaying the number of endothelial progenitor cells. A method for treating a subject with decreased vascular function is disclosed. The method includes administering a therapeutically effective amount of endothelial progenitor cells to the subject. In one embodiment, the subject has atherosclerosis.

Method for diagnosis and treatment of vascular disease

The present invention provides a method of selectively expressing DNA in neointimal cells in an injured blood vessel of a subject comprising administering a replication-deficient recombinant adenovirus which functionally encodes the DNA to the blood vessel at the site of injury, such that the adenovirus remains at the site of injury for a time sufficient for the adenovirus to selectively infect neointimal cells and thereby selectively express the DNA in neointimal cells. In particular, the invention provides administering a replication-deficient recombinant adenovirus which functionally encodes a DNA encoding a protein or an antisense ribonucleic acid. This method can be used to treat restenosis and, relatedly, prevent neointimal cell proliferation.

Efficient and selective adenoviral-mediated gene transfer into vascular neointima

Disclosed and claimed are compositions and methods for therapy and/or prevention of restenosis and/or atherosclerosis. The compositions can include an agent for decreasing viral load of cytomegalovirus, such as an immunological composition or vaccine against cytomegalovirus (CMV) containing at least one epitope of interest of CMV and/or an expression system which expresses at least one epitope of interest of CMV. Such compositions can include at least one epitope of p53. Alternatively, the compositions can include at least one epitope of p53 and/or an expression system which expresses the epitope. The methods can include administering the compositions to a patient in need of such therapy and/or prevention. Additionally, compositions and methods for diagnosing atherosclerosis and/or restenosis, or susceptibility thereto, including screening a sample from a patient for antibodies to CMV and/or CMV proteins and/or screening a sample from a patient for specific viral proteins that predict whether the virus has been reactivated and/or antibodies thereto and/or detecting whether CMV nucleic acid, e.g., mRNA is present in peripheral blood monocytes (PBMCs) and/or detecting a cellular-mediated immune response to CMV peptides or proteins is present and/or HLA phenotyping and/or HLA genotyping. Embodiements can include a skin test.

Restenosis/atherosclerosis diagnosis, prophylaxis and therapy

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Bethesda, MD, United States of America

Toren Finkel