Effects of a selective ET(A)-receptor antagonist, atrasentan (ABT-627), in murine models of allergic asthma: demonstration of mouse strain specificity.

Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease that is characterized by airway inflammation, bronchoconstriction and the influx of pro-inflammatory cells, mostly eosinophils in the lung tissue and bronchoalveolar space. Amongst the many physiopathological roles attributed to endothelins (ETs), one is to modulate pulmonary functions. It is established that Balb/c mice develop allergen-induced Th(2)-cytokine gene expression, airway inflammation and hyper-responsiveness whereas C57Bl/6 mice are much less reactive. In the present study, we investigated the roles of ETs in these two murine models of allergic asthma (AA). Mice were sensitized and challenged with either saline (S) and/or ovalbumin (O) over 6 weeks (groups S/S and O/O) and treated chronically with ABT-627 or its vehicle. Twenty-four hours after the last sensitization, challenged mice developed a marked airway inflammatory response characterized by the accumulation of total inflammatory cells (a 21-fold increase) in the bronchoalveolar space, similar in both mouse strains. The increase in eosinophils was marked in both groups, representing 98% of total cell count in O/O versus <1% in S/S. Macrophages were also increased 3-fold in both strains. ABT-627 did reduce the accumulation of macrophages in both stains (36 to 53%) whereas it blocked by 76% the influx of eosinophils in Balb/c but not in C57Bl/6 mice. These results show that ET(A)-receptor antagonism is more effective against O/O-induced AA in Balb/c mice, even though both strains were associated with the same increase in key pro-inflammatory cells in the bronchoalveolar space. It is unclear whether this is due to a lack or a disproportionate expression of ET(A) receptors in these two murine strains, or in post-receptor transduction modulation, or different regulation of ET receptors in various pulmonary cells, after sensitization and challenge.

Effects of a selective endothelin A receptor antagonist, ABT-627, in healthy normotensive anaesthetized rats developing acute pulmonary air embolism.

Acute pulmonary air embolism (APAE) injures the vascular endothelium in the lung and results in pulmonary hypertension (PH). Endothelins (ETs), a family of potent vasoactive peptides, are known to be associated with PH of various aetiologies. We evaluated the effects of ABT-627, a selective ET(A) receptor (ET(A)-R) antagonist in a rat model of APAE over 3 h. APAE rats developed a higher right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP), lower mean arterial blood pressure (MABP), and had lower PaO(2). At 3 h, arterial plasma levels of ET-1 were increased. ABT-627-treated controls showed no effects. However, ABT-627 significantly lowered RVSP during APAE, abolished the short recovery phase (within 10-25 min) of MABP without affecting the subsequent lowering of MABP, and improved oxygen saturation in APAE rats. These results show that ET(A)-R subtype is involved in the pathogenesis of APAE since a blockade of this receptor subtype attenuated the cardiopulmonary deterioration and improved blood gas exchanges in rats with this disease.

Endothelin-stimulated glucose uptake: effects of intracellular Ca(2+), cAMP and glucosamine.

Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is a 21-amino-acid peptide that binds to G-protein-coupled receptors to evoke biological responses. Previously we have shown that ET-1 stimulates glucose uptake in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and neonatal rat cardiomyocytes, but the mechanism is not completely understood. ET-1 is known to modulate intracellular Ca(2+) and cAMP levels. Depletion of intracellular Ca(2+) by treating 3T3-L1 adipocytes with EDTA and 1,2-bis(2-amino-5-methylphenoxy)ethane-N,N,N',N'-tetra-acetic acid tetra-acetoxymethyl ester (MAPTAM) did not have a significant effect on ET-1-induced glucose uptake. Forskolin, a potent stimulator which stimulates adenylate cyclase and increases the intracellular cAMP level, partially inhibited insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in 3T3-L1 cells, but had no significant impact on the effect of ET-1. Forskolin also did not show an effect on the tyrosine phosphorylation of a 75 kDa protein induced by ET-1. Glucosamine treatment causes insulin resistance in cells, possibly by entering the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway. In neonatal rat cardiomyocytes, glucosamine treatment blocked both insulin and ET-1-stimulated glucose uptake and also eliminated the translocation of IRAP, an aminopeptidase in GLUT4-containing vesicles, from the cytoplasm to the plasma membrane. These results suggest that ET-1-induced glucose uptake is independent of its effects on modulating intracellular Ca(2+) and cAMP levels, but is likely linked to the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway.