W. Siess et al., Lysophosphatidic acid and sphingosine 1-phosphate: Two lipid villains provoking cardiovascular diseases?, IUBMB LIFE, 49(3), 2000, pp. 167-171
Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) and sphingosine I-phosphate (S1P) are potent bi
oactive lipids with specific and multiple effects on cells of the vessel wa
ll and blood platelets, In this paper we suggest that these lipid molecules
are involved in atherogenesis, pathological vasoconstriction, plaque ruptu
re, and intravascular thrombus formation, which leads us to propose new str
ategies for the prevention and therapy of cardiovascular diseases. The conc
lusions are hypothetical, in that the studies were so far mainly carried ou
t on isolated cells or cultured cells in vitro and the results were extrapo
lated to the situation in vivo.