CARDIOVASCULAR STEROID ACTIONS - SWIFT SWALLOWS OR SLUGGISH SNAILS

Steroid actions on the vascular wall have been thought to depend on di rect, genomic mechanisms being characterized by a considerable delay a nd on secondary events, including changes of coagulation, plasma Lipid s, and renal electrolyte and volume regulation. Recently, rapid effect s of steroids on the vascular wall have been reported being clearly in compatible with the classical theory of genomic steroid action. As the se effects occur in classical target tissues for genomic steroid actio n, and modulation of intracellular signaling has been shown to influen ce genomic steroid action, a two-step model of steroid action was deve loped integrating both genomic and nongenomic aspects and their possib le interaction. This review summarizes recent studies on both types of direct, vascular steroid actions, the swift and the sluggish ones, an d discusses the role of these actions in regulation of circulatory hom eostasis and their potential therapeutic implications. (C) 1998 Elsevi er Science B.V. AU rights reserved.