Can regurgitant flow damage the left atrial endothelium in patients with prosthetic mechanical heart valves?
The calculated shear stresses exceeded by orders of magnitude the maximum physiologically tolerated stresses. This suggests that shear stresses associated with regurgitant jets in MHVs may damage the endothelial cells, leading to the activation of the inflammatory reaction, enhanced procoagulation, platelet activation and aggregation, and mechanical cell denudation.
Endocannabinoids signaling pathway, through CB(2) receptor, may reduce colitis-associated inflammation suggesting a potential drugable target for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases.