Wild Blueberry-Rich Diets Affect the Contractile Machinery of the Vascular Smooth Muscle in the Sprague–Dawley Rat

2005 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia Norton ◽  
Anastasia Z. Kalea ◽  
Patrick D. Harris ◽  
Dorothy J. Klimis-Zacas
2004 ◽  
Vol 286 (6) ◽  
pp. L1275-L1281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott A. Barman ◽  
Shu Zhu ◽  
Richard E. White

Normally, signaling mechanisms that activate large-conductance, calcium- and voltage-activated potassium (BKCa) channels in pulmonary vascular smooth muscle cause pulmonary vasodilatation. BKCa-channel modulation is important in the regulation of pulmonary arterial pressure, and inhibition (decrease in the opening probability) of the BKCa channel has been implicated in the development of pulmonary vasoconstriction. Protein kinase C (PKC) causes pulmonary vasoconstriction, but little is known about the effect of PKC on BKCa-channel activity in pulmonary vascular smooth muscle. Accordingly, studies were done to determine the effect of PKC on BKCa-channel activity using patch-clamp studies in pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) of the Sprague-Dawley rat. The PKC activators phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) and thymeleatoxin opened BKCa channels in single Sprague-Dawley rat PASMC. The activator response to both PMA and thymeleatoxin on BKCa-channel activity was blocked by Gö-6983, which selectively blocks PKC-α, -δ, -γ, and -ζ, and by rottlerin, which selectively inhibits PKC-δ. In addition, the specific cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase antagonist KT-5823 blocked the responses to PMA and thymelatoxin, whereas the specific cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase blocker KT-5720 had no effect. In isolated pulmonary arterial vessels, both PMA and forskolin caused vasodilatation, which was inhibited by KT-5823, Gö-6983, or the BKCa-channel blocker tetraethylammonium. The results of this study indicate that activation of specific PKC isozymes increases BKCa-channel activity in Sprague-Dawley rat PASMC via cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase, which suggests a unique signaling mechanism for vasodilatation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (7) ◽  
pp. 1276-1283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kinga Jaworska ◽  
Marek Konop ◽  
Tomasz Hutsch ◽  
Karol Perlejewski ◽  
Marek Radkowski ◽  
...  

Abstract It has been suggested that trimethylamine oxide (TMAO), a liver oxygenation product of gut bacteria-produced trimethylamine (TMA), is a marker of cardiovascular risk. However, mechanisms of the increase and biological effects of TMAO are obscure. Furthermore, the potential role of TMAO precursor, that is TMA, has not been investigated. We evaluated the effect of age, a cardiovascular risk factor, on plasma levels of TMA and TMAO, gut bacteria composition, gut-to-blood penetration of TMA, histological and hemodynamic parameters in 3-month-old and 18-month-old, male, Sprague–Dawley and Wistar–Kyoto rats. Cytotoxicity of TMA and TMAO was studied in human vascular smooth muscle cells. Older rats showed significantly different gut bacteria composition, a significantly higher gut-to-blood TMA penetration, and morphological and hemodynamic alterations in intestines. In vitro, TMA at concentration of 500 µmol/L (2-fold higher than in portal blood) decreased human vascular smooth muscle cells viability. In contrast, TMAO at 1,000-fold higher concentration than physiological one had no effect on human vascular smooth muscle cells viability. In conclusion, older rats show higher plasma level of TMA due to a “leaky gut”. TMA but not TMAO affects human vascular smooth muscle cells viability. We propose that TMA but not TMAO may be a marker and mediator of cardiovascular risk.


1994 ◽  
Vol 266 (3) ◽  
pp. H898-H902 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Ohkawa ◽  
U. Ikeda ◽  
K. Kawasaki ◽  
E. Kusano ◽  
M. Igarashi ◽  
...  

Our objective was to investigate the direct effect of interleukin-6 (IL-6) on the vascular smooth muscle contraction. We measured the contraction of endothelium-denuded aortic rings isolated from Sprague-Dawley rats. We also investigated the involvement of vasodilator prostaglandin and guanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cGMP) productions in the effect of IL-6 using cultured rat vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC). Exposing the aortic rings to recombinant murine IL-6 (50 U/ml) for 180 min significantly suppressed the phenylephrine (10(-9)-10(-5) M)-induced contraction. This inhibitory effect of IL-6 on the contraction tended to exhibit a dose-dependent relationship (0.5-50 U/ml). The effect of IL-6 was totally eliminated in the presence of indomethacin (10(-5) M). The release of immunoreactive 6-ketoprostaglandin F1 alpha from cultured rat VSMC was significantly increased by exposure to IL-6. Intracellular cGMP concentration in VSMC was not affected by IL-6. In conclusion, IL-6 is a potent inhibitor of the alpha-adrenergic-stimulated contraction of vascular smooth muscle. Its action is endothelium independent and mediated by the increased synthesis of prostacyclin in VSMC.


1991 ◽  
Vol 81 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. P. L. Davis ◽  
A. R. Chipperfield ◽  
A. A. Harper

1. Hypertension was induced in male Sprague-Dawley rats by left unilateral nephrectomy and deoxycorticosterone acetate-salt administration. After 5 weeks, arterial systolic blood pressure was significantly elevated in these animals (191.5 ± 6.0 mmHg, mean ± sd, n = 17) compared with age-matched, unoperated control animals (134.0 ± 4.2 mmHg, n = 8, P < 0.001). 2. The membrane potential of femoral artery vascular smooth muscle measured in vitro was −55.1 ± 6.3 mV (mean ± sd, n = 154) for normotensive and −50.8 ± 5.7 mV (n = 82) for hypertensive animals. The difference in membrane potential was significant (P < 0.001). 3. The relationship between the log of the extracellular K+ concentration and membrane potential was nonlinear over the extracellular K+ concentration range 2.5–20 mmol/l, and showed a small positive shift with hypertension. 4. Tenfold reductions in the extracellular concentrations of Na+ or Cl− resulted in a membrane potential hyperpolarization in vascular smooth muscle from normotensive animals (4.9 ± 2.0 mV, n = 13 and 12.1 ± 1.3 mV, mean ± sd, n = 14, respectively). In vascular smooth muscle from hypertensive animals, the hyperpolarization in low-Na+ media was significantly increased to 12.2 ± 2.6 mV (mean ± sd, n = 5), but that in low-Cl− media was unaffected (2.7 ± 1.6 mV, n = 6). 5. The loop diuretic, bumetanide (10 μmol/l), hyperpolarized the membrane potential in vascular smooth muscle from both normotensive and hypertensive rats, but not in low-Na+ or low-Cl− media. This effect was significantly increased in hypertension, from 1.8 ± 0.7 mV (mean ± sd, n = 8) to 4.0 ± 1.0 mV (n = 5). 6. These results suggest that in these cells, K+ permeability ≫ Na+ permeability > Cl− permeabilty, and that the membrane potential is determined principally by the K+ permeability. In deoxycorticosterone acetate-salt hypertension, the membrane potential is depolarized, Na+ permeability is substantially increased, and there appears to be an increase in the activity of the (Na+-K+-Cl−) co-transporter.


1995 ◽  
Vol 269 (6) ◽  
pp. C1408-C1416 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Y. Kolyada ◽  
C. A. Johns ◽  
N. E. Madias

We have recently shown that regulatory element D (nucleotides -239 to -215) of the 0.25-kb promoter of the human growth factor-activatable Na+/H+ exchanger (NHE1) is important for gene transcription in cells of hepatic origin (Hep G2) and vascular smooth muscle origin (VSM A7r5). This element contains a sequence (nucleotides -230 to -222) with complete homology to the C/EBP binding site. We now demonstrate that nucleotide substitution mutations disrupting this C/EBP site suppressed transcription in Hep G2 cells, VSM A7r5 cells, and Sprague-Dawley VSM cells in primary culture. These mutations abolished the binding of rat liver nuclear activities as well as transcription factors C/EBP alpha, C/EBP beta, and C/EBP delta expressed in COS-1 cell lysates to element D. Anti-C/EBP antibodies supershifted DNA-protein complexes formed between hepatic nuclear activities or C/EBP proteins expressed in COS-1 cell lysates and regulatory element D. Finally, cotransfection experiments of NHE1 0.25-kb promoter-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) construct and C/EBP expression vectors showed that C/EBP alpha and C/EBP delta are transactivators of the NHE1 proximal promoter in Hep G2 and VSM A7r5 cells. These results indicate that members of the C/EBP family of transcription factors are involved in the regulation of hepatic and vascular smooth muscle transcription of the human NHE1 gene.


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