Correction: platelet calcium metabolism in the prediction of preeclampsia.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to J R Sowers.
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Hypertension is a constellation of abnormalities, including metabolic disorders. The current approach to treatment of hypertension should not be dictated solely by measures to lower blood pressure. It must also take into consideration the effect of antihypertensive drug treatment on the development of atherosclerosis and many other important factors. Evidence from rabbit models and cell cultures indicates that calcium channel blockers are antiatherogenic through a variety of mechanisms. In addition to preserving endothelial function, these agents inhibit the following: Platelet aggregation Migration of monocytes and smooth-muscle cells into the intima Incorporation of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol into these cells Matrix formation Calcium overload in atherosclerotic lesions However, additional studies are needed to delineate the antiatherogenic effects of these and other antihypertensive agents.
Twenty-four-hour ambulatory blood pressure measurements (ABPM) are likely to eliminate the stress of visits and observer bias in office blood pressure (BP) recordings, allow consideration of the circadian variability in BP, and correlate well with target organ damage. To define the prevalence of "white coat" hypertension in a rural community to a nonacademic setting, and to assess age and sex related differences, we studied 131 patients who had more than two prior office diastolic BP measurements greater than 90 mm Hg and less than 115 mm Hg. Blood pressure was measured every 10 to 60 min for 24 h using the SpaceLabs 90207 device. Office BP readings were higher than ABPM in the group as a whole, in individual age groups, and in both sexes. The differences were more pronounced at night. Average differences between office and ambulatory BP ranged between 14.4 +/- 1.7/2.9 +/- 2.0 (ABPM at 10:00), and 33.8 +/- 2.3/22.8 +/- 1.5 mm Hg (systolic/diastolic +/- SE) (ABPM at 01:00). The nighttime drop in systolic BP was not apparent in subjects more than 65 years old. Women had a proportionately higher mean office BP than men (115.0 +/- 0.9 office v 110.2 +/- 1.3 mm Hg ABPM in women and 112.3 +/- 0.9 v 104.3 +/- 1.1 mm Hg in men) (P = .013), and the elderly did not display the relationship between ambulatory and office mean BP seen in younger subjects (r = 0.15, P = .30 v r = 0.36, P = .0004, respectively).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
We have previously reported that insulin-resistant Zucker obese rats exhibit hypertension associated with impaired vascular smooth muscle (VSM) Ca2+ transport and proposed that this results from failure of insulin to regulate VSM Ca2+ transport in insulin resistance. However, hypertension in insulin-resistant states is generally attributed to hyperinsulinemia, with a consequent stimulation of sympathetic neural activity. Accordingly, the present study was conducted to determine whether the hypertension observed in Zucker obese rats compared with their lean controls was dependent on either increased sympathetic neural activity or exaggerated vascular reactivity. Intra-arterial blood pressure responses to ganglionic blockade with Ecolid (chlorisondamine chloride) and to graded intravenous injections of angiotensin II and norepinephrine were compared in 6- to 8-wk-old male Zucker rats and their lean controls (n = 10/group). The obese rats exhibited significant hypertension before ganglionic blockade (P less than 0.001), and this difference was largely sustained during ganglionic blockade (P less than 0.005). Furthermore, the obese rats exhibited greater pressor sensitivity to both angiotensin II and to norepinephrine during ganglionic blockade (P less than 0.01). Thus enhanced pressor sensitivity, independent of sympathetic neural activity, appears to support hypertension in Zucker obese rats.
Diabetes mellitus and hypertension are common diseases that coexist at a greater frequency than chance alone would predict. Hypertension in the diabetic individual markedly increases the risk and accelerates the course of cardiac disease, peripheral vascular disease, stroke, retinopathy, and nephropathy. Our understanding of the factors that markedly increase the frequency of hypertension in the diabetic individual remains incomplete. Diabetic nephropathy is an important factor involved in the development of hypertension in diabetics, particularly type I patients. However, the etiology of hypertension in the majority of diabetic patients cannot be explained by underlying renal disease and remains "essential" in nature. The hallmark of hypertension in type I and type II diabetics appears to be increased peripheral vascular resistance. Increased exchangeable sodium may also play a role in the pathogenesis of blood pressure in diabetics. There is increasing evidence that insulin resistance/hyperinsulinemia may play a key role in the pathogenesis of hypertension in both subtle and overt abnormalities of carbohydrate metabolism. Population studies suggest that elevated insulin levels, which often occurs in type II diabetes mellitus, is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Other cardiovascular risk factors in diabetic individuals include abnormalities of lipid metabolism, platelet function, and clotting factors. The goal of antihypertensive therapy in the patient with coexistent diabetes is to reduce the inordinate cardiovascular risk as well as lowering blood pressure.
Hypertension is only one component of a multifaceted metabolic-hemodynamic complex that also includes obesity, subtle and overt glucose intolerance, dyslipidemia, enhanced vascular resistance and accelerated atherosclerosis. Results of a number of studies in the past 5 years have shown that even nonobese, nondiabetic individuals with hypertension display insulin resistance, which is located in peripheral tissues (primarily skeletal muscle), is limited to nonoxidative pathways of glucose disposal, and appears to be directly correlated with the severity of hypertension. Insulin resistance and associated hyperinsulinemia in hypertensive individuals are also associated with increased plasma triglyceride levels and decreased high-density lipoprotein concentrations, which likely contributes to enhanced atherosclerosis. Hyperinsulinemia may directly promote atherosclerosis by enhancing LDL-cholesterol accumulation in vessel walls, vascular smooth muscle migration, and proliferation, augmenting connective tissue synthesis in the vascular wall, and decreasing the regression of lipid plaques. The enhanced peripheral vascular resistance that characterizes insulin resistance/hyperinsulinemic states may be related to decreased vascular smooth muscle responses to insulin, which normally modulates (attenuates) vascular contractile responses to vasoactive agents.
Epidemiologic studies have shown that insulin is a risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD). Clinical studies have also demonstrated positive correlations between insulin and blood pressure, triglycerides, total cholesterol, fibrinogen, and plasminogen activator inhibitor. Moreover, there is an inverse correlation between insulin and high-density lipoprotein (HDL). These studies have provided evidence in support of the biologic plausibility of epidemiologic observations, but they have not clearly established insulin's role in the pathogenesis of human cardiovascular diseases (CVD) such as hypertension. In fact, there is considerable evidence that insulin resistance (abnormal nonoxidative glucose disposal), not hyperinsulinemia, is the primary insulin-related abnormality in human hypertension, and that hyperinsulinemia occurs as a response to insulin resistance. Skeletal muscle appears to be the primary site of insulin resistance in essential hypertension, although other organs, such as the kidneys and liver--key sites for cell and water homeostasis and lipoprotein regulation, respectively--may respond normally to insulin. Adipocytes also appear to be a site of insulin resistance. Thus, the putative interrelationship between hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance, on the one hand, and with blood pressure and lipoproteins, on the other, is a complex one and may involve organ-specific insulin resistance. Altered cation transport is one of several mechanisms by which insulin resistance might raise blood pressure. The Na+, K(+)-ATPase and Ca(2+)-ATPase pumps are insulin sensitive. Thus, when insulin resistance is present, the activity of these pumps in the smooth muscle of the arterial wall might be reduced. This would lead to an intracellular accumulation of sodium and calcium, thereby sensitizing the vascular wall to pressor substances. Moreover, secondary hyperinsulinemia will occur, and insulin has been shown to stimulate sympathetic nervous system activity and to increase renal tubular absorption of sodium. Insulin is also a growth factor and therefore might have a trophic effect on the vessel wall, one that could initiate and/or sustain hypertension as well as atherosclerosis. Abnormal lipoprotein metabolism is yet another possible explanation for the accelerated atherosclerosis that has been observed in persons with abnormal carbohydrate tolerance and insulin resistance. Hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance both play a role in the expression of elevated very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels as well as in the depression of HDL levels. Coronary risk reduction has been disappointing when blood pressure has been lowered with treatment regimens based on thiazide diuretics and/or beta blockers. Thiazides and some beta blockers may further impair tissue insulin sensitivity and often cause blood lipoprotein abnormalities.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
In this review, the relationship between hypertension and abnormal carbohydrate metabolism is explored. A review of the current literature reveals that people with hypertension are also likely to suffer from insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, and hyperinsulinemia. Likewise, hypertension is prevalent in obese and diabetic patients. Deficiency of insulin at the cellular level may be a common mechanism in the development of hypertension in patients with type I or type II diabetes mellitus. Essential hypertension appears to be an insulin-resistant state. Insulin resistance may engender hypertension by increasing peripheral vascular resistance as well as by increasing salt retention at the level of the kidney. Therefore effective antihypertensive therapy should include agents that do not adversely affect carbohydrate metabolic abnormalities. Commonly used antihypertensive agents, such as thiazide, thiazide-like diuretics, and beta-blockers, are associated with glucose intolerance and increased insulin resistance. In contrast, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, calcium antagonists, and peripheral alpha-blockers (such as prazosin and terazosin) do not adversely affect glucose tolerance or insulin sensitivity. In addition, alpha-blockers have a positive effect on the serum lipid profile. The entire multifactorial cardiac risk profile must be considered when choosing therapeutic agents for conditions that have an impact on cardiovascular disease.
This multicenter trial compared the efficacy and safety of isradipine and enalapril in 160 patients with essential hypertension. Patients received isradipine or enalapril for 10 weeks after a placebo wash-out period of three to five weeks. Dosage was titrated for six weeks on the basis of blood pressure (BP) response and was then maintained for the remainder of the study. Isradipine reduced systolic and diastolic BP by 12 and 9 mm Hg, respectively, and enalapril by 10 and 7 mm Hg, respectively (between-treatment difference P less than .05 for diastolic BP). Overall, isradipine resulted in a higher responder rate, particularly among patients who had higher entry BPs. Fifteen enalapril-treated patients and four isradipine-treated patients discontinued treatment (four taking enalapril and none taking isradipine withdrew because of lack of efficacy). The most frequently reported adverse reactions were headache, dizziness, and edema in the isradipine group, and cough, headache, and chest pain in the enalapril group. Both drugs produced significant reductions in BP, but, in this study isradipine was more effective. The drugs were similarly well tolerated.
Hypertension in insulin resistance states is generally attributed to hyperinsulinemia, with resulting increases in renal sodium retention and/or sympathetic nervous system activity. However, recent data from our laboratory suggest that cellular insulin resistance, rather than hyperinsulinemia per se, may lead to hypertension. The basic tenet proposed in this review is that the common mechanism involved in the development of hypertension in both type I and type II diabetes mellitus is a deficiency of insulin at the cellular level. Recent observations suggest that impaired cellular response to insulin predisposes to increased vascular smooth muscle (VSM) tone (the hallmark of hypertension in the diabetic state). For example, recently reported studies from our laboratory demonstrate that insulin in physiological doses attenuates the vascular contractile response to phenylephrine, serotonin, and potassium chloride. Thus, insulin appears to normally modulate (attenuate) VSM contractile responses to vasoactive factors, and insulin resistance should accordingly be associated with enhanced vascular reactivity. Abnormal VSM cell calcium [Ca2+]i homeostasis may be the nexus between insulin resistance and increased VSM tone. The genetically obese, hyperinsulinemic, insulin-resistant Zucker rat demonstrates increased vascular reactivity, reduced membrane Ca2(+)-ATPase activity, increased cellular Ca2+ levels, and a marked impairment in vascular smooth muscle Ca2+ efflux compared to lean controls. Insulin stimulates membrane Ca-ATPase, blocks Ca2+ currents, and Ca2(+)-driven action potentials. Thus, an insulin-resistant state as exists in the Zucker rat may be associated with increased Ca2+ influx through voltage-dependent sarcolemmal Ca2+ channels and/or decreased production or activation of the VSM cell Ca-ATPase pump.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Recent data from this laboratory indicate that insulin resistant obese Zucker rats exhibit hypertension associated with exaggerated in vitro vascular reactivity to phenylephrine, serotonin, and KCl, and we have found insulin to attenuate vascular reactivity responses to these agonists. Accordingly, in the present study we evaluated the possibility that exaggerated vascular reactivity responses in obese Zucker rats may result from insulin resistance and a consequent failure of insulin to attenuate vasoactive responses. Thoracic aortae were isolated from male 16 week old lean and obese Zucker rats, and replicate helical strips from each animal were suspended in a muscle bath under a resting tension of 1.4 g in the presence or absence of insulin (0.1 mU/mL) for 1 h. The insulin was then washed out, and vascular reactivity responses to phenylephrine were determined. The obese rats exhibited greater reactivity to phenylephrine (ED50:1.10 +/- 90 X 10(-8) v 7.57 +/- 0.88 X 10(-10) mol/L in lean and obese rats, respectively, P less than .025). Insulin caused a significant attenuation of the contractile response in both the lean and obese aortae. However, lean rats exhibited a markedly greater attenuation than the obese rats (46.0 +/- 17.0 v 17.8 +/- 7.5% attenuation in the lean and obese rats, respectively, P less than .01). These data suggest that increased vascular reactivity responses in obese Zucker rats may result from their insulin resistant state and, consequently, a diminished ability of insulin to attenuate vasoconstrictor responses.
Platelets are used as models for vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) in evaluating intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i) metabolism in humans. This study was designed to determine if agonist-induced increases in [Ca2+]i in platelets occur via release from intracellular stores as previously demonstrated for VSMC. Incubation of purified platelets loaded with fura-2-AM in media containing 1.5 mmol/L Ca2+ resulted in higher basal [Ca2+]i than platelets incubated in Ca(2+)-free media. In addition, vasopressin-induced platelet [Ca2+]i transients were almost completely blocked by Ca2+ channel blockers. Thus, in contrast to VSMC, the transmembranous flux of extracellular Ca2+ is the major mechanism in vasopressin-induced increases in platelet [Ca2+]i, while mobilization of intracellular Ca2+ stores is only minimally involved.
Evidence has accumulated over the past decade that suggests a relationship between low calcium intake, abnormalities in cation metabolism and hypertension in certain segments of the essential hypertension population. This evidence has been developed from epidemiological data, calcium intervention trials and observations related to biochemical alterations suggestive of a calcium deficiency in certain patients with hypertension and in animal models of essential hypertension. It is becoming increasingly evident that salt sensitive individuals are especially likely to be characterized by abnormalities of calcium metabolism and blood pressure responses to dietary calcium. In this review the role of calcium in the regulation of blood pressure is examined with an emphasis on epidemiological, biochemical, hemodynamic and dietary intervention data in the salt sensitive hypertensive patient.
Hypertension and diabetes are common diseases in Westernized civilizations, and in the United States, the frequency of both diseases is increasing as the society ages. Factors contributing to the high prevalence and increasing frequency of these diseases include obesity, hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance, genetic factors, and abnormal cellular handling of calcium and other cations. Obesity is a strong early predictor for the development of hypertension as a person progresses from childhood into adult life. Important factors contributing to obesity-related hypertension likely include enhanced sympathetic nervous system activity and insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia. Recent evidence has also shown that many nonobese adults with untreated hypertension have insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia. This observation strongly suggests that the disease called "hypertension" is characterized by fundamental metabolic abnormalities as well as by hemodynamic abnormalities. Recent observations have shown that impaired cellular responses to insulin are associated with increased vascular smooth muscle contraction. Insulin appears to attenuate the vascular response to both receptor-mediated and voltage-mediated calcium-induced contractions. Thus, insulin resistance, and the resultant reduction in the normal attenuating effect of insulin on vascular smooth muscle responses, appear to be associated with abnormal vascular smooth muscle handling of calcium and with exaggerated vascular contraction.
Previous data from this laboratory indicate that hypertension in insulin resistant Zucker obese rats is accompanied by an impairment in vascular smooth muscle Ca2+ efflux. Since insulin resistant states are also generally salt-sensitive and dietary Ca2+ reduces blood pressure in some salt-sensitive states, we evaluated the effects of dietary Ca2+ on blood pressure and vascular reactivity and examined whether these effects are due to increased vascular smooth muscle Ca2+ efflux. We assigned 16 obese and 16 lean rats to a normal (0.5%) or high (1.5%) Ca2+ diet for 28 days, following which intraarterial blood pressure and in vitro vascular smooth muscle 45Ca efflux and vascular reactivity responses to phenylephrine and serotonin were measured. Blood pressure was elevated in the obese rats on both diets (P less than 0.2), and the high calcium diet lowered both systolic and diastolic pressure in both the lean and obese rats (P less than 0.5). Vascular reactivity was higher in the obese rats (P less than 0.2), but dietary Ca2+ exerted opposite effects on vascular reactivity to the agonists. High Ca2+ reduced sensitivity to serotonin in the obese rats by 54% (P less than .05) without affecting sensitivity in the lean rats. In contrast, the high Ca2+ diet increased sensitivity to phenylephrine by 31% in both groups (P less than .01). 45Ca efflux was lower in the obese rats compared to the lean rats (P less than .05), and the high Ca2+ diet increased this rate by 23% in the lean, but not the obese, rats (P less than .05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Insulin attenuates the contractile responses of vascular smooth muscle (VSM) to various agonists. Insulinopenic and insulin-resistant rats lack this normal attenuation of vascular contractile responses. To study this attenuating mechanism, the effects of insulin on calcium (Ca2+) responses of cultured VSM cells (a7r5) to arginine vasopressin (AVP) and membrane potential were investigated. Insulin (1 and 100 mU/ml) shifted AVP dose-response curves to the right, reducing relative potency of AVP by 16-fold and 220-fold, respectively. Responses to AVP were significantly attenuated within 30 min of insulin application. The AVP-elicited rise in [Ca2+]i was partially dependent upon extracellular Ca2+. AVP-elicited inward current was reduced by 90 min of insulin treatment (100 mU/ml), from a peak current of -103 +/- 27 pA (normal) to -37 +/- 15 pA (insulin treated). Peak voltage-dependent Ca(2+)-dependent inward current was unaffected by insulin; however, the current-voltage curve was shifted 16 +/-3 mV to the right by insulin. Thus, insulin may reduce VSM contractile responses by attenuating agonist-mediated rises in [Ca2+]i mediated, in part, by reductions in Ca2+ influx through both receptor- and voltage-operated channels.
This study investigated changes in plasma norepinephrine and the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system during weight loss. Subjects were maintained on a hypocaloric and low sodium diet for 12 weeks. During weight loss statistically significant decreases in blood pressure, aldosterone, plasma renin activity, and norepinephrine were evident. Plasma renin substrate was suppressed from week one to eight and returned to control levels by week twelve. The data indicate that a reduction in the activity of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, modulated by circulating norepinephrine and plasma renin substrate, may significantly contribute to the fall in blood pressure associated with weight loss.
The basic mechanisms that initiate and sustain hypertension in type 2 diabetics are poorly understood. Contributing factors discussed in this review include obesity, insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia, genetic factors, and abnormalities of cellular cation homeostasis. Also discussed are the features of hypertension in type 2 diabetic individuals that are reminiscent of the hemodynamic abnormalities characterizing hypertension in the elderly, including increased vascular reactivity and increased atherosclerotic vascular disease. This article reviews mechanisms by which hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, or both may lead to hypertension.