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Plasma uric acid has been associated with hypertension in a variety of disorders, and has been shown to be predictive of hypertension. The mechanistic role of uric acid in the development of hypertension is not known however.

The present study was designed to determine the effects of insulin on cytosolic angiotensin II production and proliferation in cultured rat vascular smooth muscle cells.

Lanthionine ketimine ([LK] 3, 4-dihydro-2H-1,4-thiazine-3,5-dicarboxylic acid) is the archetype for a family of naturally occurring brain sulfur amino acid metabolites, the physiologic function of which is unknown. Lanthionine ketimine and its synthetic derivatives have recently demonstrated neurotrophic, neuroprotective, and antineuroinflammatory properties in vitro through a proposed mechanism involving the microtubule-associated protein collapsin response mediator protein 2. Therefore, studies were undertaken to test the effects of a bioavailable LK ester in the 3×Tg-AD mouse model of Alzheimer disease. Lanthionine ketimine ester treatment substantially diminished cognitive decline and brain amyloid-A (AA) peptide deposition and phospho-Tau accumulation in 3×Tg-AD mice and also reduced the density of Iba1 -positive microglia. Furthermore, LK ester treatment altered collapsin response mediator protein 2 phosphorylation. These findings suggest that LK may not be a metabolic waste but rather a purposeful neurochemical, the synthetic derivatives of which constitute a new class of experimental therapeutics for Alzheimer disease and related entities.