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Endothelial dysfunction in mesenteric resistance arteries of diabetic rats: role of free radicals.

Diabetes was induced in rats by an injection of streptozotocin (55 mg/kg). Endothelium-dependent relaxations in mesenteric resistance arteries (luminal diameter 210 +/- 20 microns) of control and diabetic rats were compared in myographs. Acetylcholine induced endothelium-dependent relaxations that were mediated by nitric oxide (EDNO). EDNO-mediated relaxations were impaired in diabetic arteries; concentrations of acetylcholine required to produce 50% relaxation (ED50) of activated arteries were 5 nM in control and 13.5 nM in arteries from diabetic rats studied after 6 wk (P < 0.05). The impairment in relaxation worsened with duration of the diabetes; ED50 for acetylcholine increased to 63 and 100 nM in diabetic arteries studied after 16 and 24 wk of diabetes, respectively. NG-nitro-L-arginine produced 5.5- and 16-fold decreases in sensitivity of control and diabetic arteries to acetylcholine. NG-nitro-L-arginine produced at least as much inhibition of acetylcholine relaxations in diabetic arteries, indicating that the impaired relaxation noted in diabetic arteries does not result from decreased production of EDNO. EDNO-mediated relaxations in diabetic arteries were impaired by increased production of endothelium-derived free radicals. Superoxide dismutase, a scavenger of superoxide anion, and dimethylthiourea, a scavenger of hydroxyl radicals, normalized EDNO-mediated relaxations in diabetic arteries. The ED50 values for acetylcholine were 13.5, 5.5, and 4 nM for untreated and SOD- and DMTU-treated diabetic arteries, respectively (P < 0.05 for treated vs. untreated arteries). Superoxide anion and hydroxyl radicals appear to block EDNO-mediated relaxation by inactivating EDNO.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals

Endothelial dysfunction augments myogenic arteriolar constriction in hypertension.

To elucidate the underlying reason or reasons for the increased peripheral resistance in hypertension, we investigated the pressure-diameter relation--the myogenic response--of isolated, cannulated arterioles (approximately 50 microns) of cremaster muscle of 12-week-old Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats, spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), and normal Wistar (NW) rats. All arterioles constricted in response to step increases in perfusion pressure from 20 to 160 mm Hg. This constriction was, however, significantly enhanced from 60 to 160 mm Hg in arterioles of SHR compared with NW or WKY rats. For example, at 80 and 140 mm Hg, respectively, the normalized diameter (expressed as a percentage of the corresponding passive diameter of arterioles of SHR) was 11.8% and 27.6% (P < .05) less compared with those of WKY rats. Endothelium removal eliminated the enhanced pressure-induced tone in SHR. Similarly, indomethacin (10(-5) mol/L, sufficient to block prostaglandin synthesis) or SQ 29,548 (10(-6) mol/L), a thromboxane A2-prostaglandin H2 receptor blocker that inhibited vasoconstriction to the thromboxane agonist U46619, attenuated the enhanced pressure-diameter curve and reversed the blunted dilation to arachidonic acid in SHR. In contrast, the thromboxane A2 synthesis inhibitor CGS 13,080 (5 x 10(-6) mol/L) did not affect the increased pressure-induced tone or the reduced dilation to arachidonic acid in SHR. Thus, the present findings suggest that in early hypertension pressure-induced arteriolar constriction is increased. This seems to be due to an enhanced production of endothelium-derived constrictor factors, primarily prostaglandin H2.

15-Hydroxy-11 alpha,9 alpha-(epoxymethano)prosta-5

Different mechanisms of endothelial dysfunction with aging and hypertension in rat aorta.

We analyzed the effects and mechanisms of aging in aortic endothelium and vascular smooth muscle of 12-week-old (adult) and 72-week-old (senescent) normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY) and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Aortas were suspended in organ chambers filled with physiological salt solution (95% O2/5% CO2; 37 degrees C), and isometric tension was measured. In WKY, endothelium-dependent relaxations to acetylcholine were diminished with aging (P < .05); in SHR, they were reduced compared with WKY (P < .05) but unchanged with aging. The thromboxane/endoperoxide receptor antagonist SQ 30741 increased relaxations only in adult SHR. Relaxations to sodium nitroprusside were slightly enhanced with age in WKY and SHR (P < .05). Endothelium-dependent contractions to acetylcholine were unmasked by NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (P < .05) and prevented by SQ 30741 or endothelium removal. In WKY, contractions increased with age. In adult SHR, marked endothelium-dependent contractions occurred (P < .05 versus WKY), which diminished with age (P = NS versus senescent WKY). The thromboxane analogue U46619 elicited similar contractions in adult and senescent WKY and adult SHR, whereas responses in senescent SHR were weaker (P < .05). In WKY and SHR, contractions to norepinephrine were similar and unaltered by aging. In WKY, contractions to endothelin-1 remained unaffected by aging. Adult SHR exhibited contractions to endothelin-1 comparable to those in WKY, whereas senescent SHR contracted less (P < .05). Bosentan, a combined endothelin-A/endothelin-B receptor antagonist, inhibited endothelin-1 markedly, especially in SHR (P < .05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Aging

Antihypertensive therapy prevents endothelial dysfunction in chronic nitric oxide deficiency. Effect of verapamil and trandolapril.

The objective of this study was to examine the effects of long-term antihypertensive therapy on blood pressure and vascular responses of resistance arteries during prolonged inhibition of nitric oxide synthesis. Four groups of 6-week-old Wistar-Kyoto rats were treated with either placebo as controls or N omega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) alone or in combination with verapamil or with trandolapril. Drugs were given orally for 6 weeks or short-term in vitro to vessels obtained from untreated rats. Endothelium-dependent and -independent relaxations as well as contractions were studied in isolated perfused mesenteric and renal arteries with an arteriograph. Kidney nitric oxide synthase activity was also evaluated. Verapamil and trandolapril prevented the increase in systolic blood pressure and the blunted acetylcholine-induced relaxations that occurred with L-NAME treatment without improving the nitric oxide synthase activity. Both antihypertensive regimens also normalized sensitivity to sodium nitroprusside, which was enhanced by L-NAME. In contrast, short-term in vitro preincubation with verapamil or trandolaprilat in the presence of L-NAME did not improve the impaired relaxations to acetylcholine. Long-term but not short-term therapy with a calcium antagonist or angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor improved the blunted endothelium-dependent relaxations in nitric oxide-deficient hypertension. These findings strongly suggest that the role of other vasodilator systems, which normally do not regulate vascular tone, is enhanced with long-term but not short-term treatment with these drugs. These observations emphasize the potential importance of these treatments in the management of hypertension in which nitric oxide production is diminished.

Animals

Leukocyte-induced acute endothelial dysfunction in middle cerebral artery in rabbits. Response to aggregating platelets.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Recent evidence suggests a possible role for leukocytes in angiospastic reactions of large cerebral arteries. This study examined the effect of activation of endogenous circulating leukocytes on endothelium-dependent relaxation in the middle cerebral artery in rabbits. METHODS: Leukocytes were activated by rapid injection of either 40 micrograms/kg phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate, or 0.2 mg/kg N-formyl-methionyl-leucylphenylalanine into the left carotid artery. Control rabbits received an equal volume of vehicle. Concentration-dependent isometric tension responses of the left and right middle cerebral artery to the dilators acetylcholine, ADP, sodium nitroprusside, or calcium ionophore (A23187), as well as to aggregating platelets, were compared in vitro in control animals and in animals killed 10 minutes after the injection of leukocyte activators in normal and leukocyte-depleted rabbits. RESULTS: In the control animals there was no significant difference in the reactivity of the left and right middle cerebral arteries. The injection of the leukocyte activators led to enhanced contractile responses to aggregating platelets and a significant reduction in the endothelium-dependent relaxation in response to acetylcholine, ADP, and A23187 in the left middle cerebral artery (the injected side), whereas the effect of an endothelium-independent dilator sodium nitroprusside remained unchanged. In leukocyte-depleted rabbits the injection of either of the leukocyte activators used did not induce significant changes in the reactivity of the left middle cerebral artery. CONCLUSIONS: Intravascular leukocyte activation appears to induce an acute disturbance of the endothelium-dependent relaxation. Under these conditions, platelet activation might result in marked angiospastic reactions of large cerebral arteries.

Animals

Low-dose felodipine treatment attenuates endothelial dysfunction in rabbits fed an atherogenic diet.

Loss of endothelium-dependent relaxation is an early step in atherogenesis. To test the effect of low-dose felodipine on the progression of this dysfunction, male New Zealand white rabbits were rendered hypercholesterolemic with a diet containing 0.25% cholesterol and 3% coconut oil. After a 1-month induction period on this diet, during which the rabbits were identified as low or normal responders to cholesterol, 0.46 mg/kg of felodipine (FELO) or placebo (CON) were given by gavage once daily for a further 3 months. This regimen established FELO plasma levels (14.2 +/- 1.3 nM, week 9) corresponding to therapeutic concentrations in humans and an average 13-fold increase in plasma cholesterol from below 1 mM. At the end of the treatment period, relaxation of norepinephrine (1 x 10(-8) M)-precontracted proximal thoracic aorta strips to acetylcholine (ACh: 1 x 10(-8)-1 x 10(-5) M) was determined. Cholesterol exposure was calculated as the area under the curve for serum cholesterol x time [AUC (mM x day 1)]. Despite equal cholesterol load [FELO (n = 17): 1,856 +/- 182 mM x day) and CON (n = 22): 1,851 +/- 167 mM x day], maximal relaxation to 1 x 10(-7) M ACh was well preserved in strips from FELO-treated rabbits (29.5 +/- 5.7%) but suppressed in strips from untreated rabbits (11.0 +/- 2.9%). For comparison, relaxation in strips from standard diet controls was 49.8 +/- 2.9% (n = 15). Moreover, there was a significant inverse correlation (r = -0.74) between percentage ACh relaxation and cholesterol exposure in FELO-treated rabbits.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Acetylcholine