Anandamide as a marker of human disease.

trial was deemed the optimal approach to assess the antiatherosclerotic potential of rimonabant. Dora and Scheffel also express concern about the appropriateness of an invasive procedure, intravascular ultrasound, for this scientific application. Invasive trials to assess progression of coronary atherosclerosis have been conducted by many investigators over the past 20 years. These include angiographic regression-progression trials and, more recently, studies using intravascular ultrasound. Such studies have enhanced knowledge of the optimal treatment of patients with coronary artery disease. The STRADIVARIUS trial was designed and conducted in a fashion similar to that of previous invasive studies. All participating centers obtained approval from their appropriate ethics committees, and all patients signed a detailed informed consent. No procedure-related complications were reported by the investigators. We believe that the goal of developing therapies to slow or reverse coronary artery disease is sufficiently important to warrant an invasive trial, and the investigators and ethics committees at 112 participating centers in North America and Europe agreed. The willingness of patients to undergo invasive procedures in research trials has advanced medical knowledge.