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K Coffee

Publications and source records attributed to K Coffee.

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Salt-sensitive hypertension and reduced fertility in mice lacking the prostaglandin EP2 receptor.

Prostaglandins (PGs) are ubiquitous lipid mediators derived from cyclooxygenase metabolism of arachidonic acid that exert a broad range of physiologic activities, including modulation of inflammation, ovulation and arterial blood pressure. PGE2, a chief cyclooxygenase product, modulates blood pressure and fertility, although the specific G protein-coupled receptors mediating these effects remain poorly defined. To evaluate the physiologic role of the PGE2 EP2 receptor subtype, we created mice with targeted disruption of this gene (EP2-/-). EP2-/- mice develop normally but produce small litters and have slightly elevated baseline systolic blood pressure. In EP2-/- mice, the characteristic hypotensive effect of intravenous PGE2 infusion was absent; PGE2 infusion instead produced hypertension. When fed a diet high in salt, the EP2-/- mice developed profound systolic hypertension, whereas wild-type mice showed no change in systolic blood pressure. Analysis of wild-type and EP2-/- mice on day 5 of pregnancy indicated that the reduced litter size of EP2-/- mice is due to a pre-implantation defect. This reduction of implanted embryos could be accounted for by impaired ovulation and dramatic reductions in fertilization observed on day 2 of pregnancy. These data demonstrate that the EP2 receptor mediates arterial dilatation, salt-sensitive hypertension, and also plays an essential part in female fertility.

Animals↗

Endothelial dysfunction and cardiorenal injury in experimental salt-sensitive hypertension: effects of antihypertensive therapy.

BACKGROUND: Pharmacological control of hypertension has contributed to a significant decrease in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, although the beneficial effect on cardiac and renal diseases has been far more modest than the reduction in stroke. The endothelium plays a crucial homeostatic role in the regulation of vascular tone thrombogenesis and vascular remodeling. We studied the relationship between endothelial dysfunction and cardiorenal injury in hypertensive rats and evaluated the effects of two classes of antihypertensive agents commonly used in the clinical setting, a diuretic (DIU) and an ACE inhibitor (CEI). METHODS AND RESULTS: Dahl salt-sensitive rats (DS) given high dietary salt (4% NaCl) developed hypertension (systolic blood pressure [SBP], 218+/-9 versus 147+/-3 mm Hg in DS given 0.5% NaCl; P<.001), which was associated with impaired endothelium-dependent relaxations (EDRs) in aortic rings (ED50, 5.44+/-.18 versus 7.51+/-.10; P<.05) and mesenteric vessels (area under the curve, 299+/-11 versus 217+/-11 arbitrary units; P<.05). Hypertensive DS also demonstrated depressed nitric oxide synthase activity in the aorta (0.76+/-.15 versus 2.83+/-.17 nmol x min(-1) x g protein(-1); P<.05), left ventricular hypertrophy (0.43+/-.02 versus 0.29+/-.02 g ventricular weight/100 g body weight; P<.05), glomerular injury (histological injury score: 151+/-8 versus 11+/-2; P<.05), and increased urinary protein excretion (95+/-21 versus 25+/-5 mg/24 hours; P<.05). Treatment of DS rats with the CEI perindopril (4.56 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1)) did not affect SBP (225+/-6 mm Hg) but modestly improved EDR (ED50: 6.07+/-.37; P<.05 versus hypertensive DS) as well as proteinuria and glomerular histology. Addition of the DIU indapamide (1.44 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1)) normalized SBP (151+/-2 mm Hg; P<.05), EDR (ED50, 7.33+/-.08; P<.05), left ventricular hypertrophy (0.27+/-.01 g/100 g body weight; P<.05), and proteinuria (31+/-4 mg/24 hours; P<.05) and prevented glomerular injury (injury score: 30+/-2; P<.05). Monotherapy with DIU reduced SBP (175+/-3 mm Hg; P<.05) and normalized EDR and left ventricular hypertrophy but did not provide effective renal protection. In hypertensive DS, impaired EDR and left ventricular hypertrophy were positively correlated with SBP. In addition, we found a significant correlation between cardiac hypertrophy and endothelial dysfunction. Indeed, a hierarchical regression analysis revealed that impaired aortic EDR, and therefore decreased aortic compliance, positively contributed to left ventricular hypertrophy in addition to but independently of SBP [F(2,37)=6.29; P=.004]. CONCLUSIONS: These studies suggest a dissociation of the endothelial, cardiac, and renal effects of antihypertensive therapy in hypertension and may explain the variable success of antihypertensive regimens in treating hypertension while preventing cardiac and renal damage.

Acetylcholine↗

Effect of doxazosin on endothelial dysfunction in hypercholesterolemic/antioxidant-deficient rats.

Hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, atherosclerosis, and coronary heart disease are associated with abnormal endothelium-dependent, nitric oxide-mediated vasorelaxation. In rats, hypercholesterolemia in combination with deficiencies of vitamin E and selenium results in increased endogenous lipid oxidation and endothelial dysfunction. Two hydroxymetabolites of doxazosin, an alpha 1-adrenergic blocking antihypertensive agent, inhibit human lipid oxidation in vitro in a dose-dependent fashion. The present studies were performed to determine the effect of in vivo treatment with doxazosin on endothelial dysfunction in hypercholesterolemic/ antioxidant-deficient rats. Dahl rats were fed 1) a standard diet, 2) a high cholesterol (4%) diet, or 3) a high cholesterol, vitamin E- and selenium-deficient diet. A subgroup of animals in each group were administered doxazosin (3.5 mg/100 g/day) for 16 weeks. In the aortas, vascular relaxations induced by acetylcholine were significantly decreased (P < .05) in high cholesterol/antioxidant-deficient rats compared with normal and high cholesterol animals. Doxazosin treatment prevented the impairment in endothelium-dependent vascular relaxation in the high cholesterol/antioxidant-deficient group. Vasorelaxation in response to the exogenous nitric oxide donor diethylamine nanoate, which was significantly impaired (P < .05) in aortas from high cholesterol/antioxidant-deficient animals compared with normal and high cholesterol animals, was normalized in aortas from high cholesterol/ antioxidant-deficient animals that had received doxazosin. The antioxidant effect of doxazosin may have therapeutic implications in diseases associated with endothelial dysfunction linked to products of lipid oxidation.

Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists↗

Hypercholesterolemia promotes endothelial dysfunction in vitamin E- and selenium-deficient rats.

Abnormal regulation of local vascular tone occurs early in human and experimental atherosclerosis. Impaired endothelium-dependent vascular relaxations mediated by endothelium-derived relaxing factor are an important contributor to these abnormalities. Endothelium-derived relaxing factor is nitric oxide released as such or attached to a carrier molecule. Oxidized lipoproteins impede endothelium-derived relaxing factor-mediated responses in vitro. We designed in vivo experiments to determine whether hypercholesterolemia with and without deficiency of two endogenous lipid antioxidants, vitamin E and selenium, would result in endothelial dysfunction. Vitamin E and selenium deficiencies were induced in a group of hypertension-prone Dahl salt-sensitive rats fed a diet high in cholesterol (4%) but low in NaCl (0.5%) for 18 weeks. Two other groups of Dahl salt-sensitive rats received diets sufficient in vitamin E and selenium but containing either high or normal cholesterol levels (control group). Serum cholesterol levels increased approximately 10-fold in the two groups of rats fed high-cholesterol diets. Systolic blood pressure was 143 +/- 3 mm Hg in high-cholesterol/vitamin E- and selenium-sufficient rats and 142 +/- 5 mm Hg in high-cholesterol/vitamin E- and selenium-deficient rats (P = NS). Mild intimal thickening and occasional mononuclear cell infiltration were observed in both of these groups. Serum vitamin E levels were decreased, whereas serum thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances and exhaled pentane (two indicators of endogenous lipid oxidation) were significantly increased in high-cholesterol/vitamin E- and selenium-deficient rats compared with high-cholesterol/vitamin E- and selenium-sufficient rats.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Acetylcholine↗