Thrombin suppresses endothelial nitric oxide synthase and upregulates endothelin-converting enzyme-1 expression by distinct pathways: role of Rho/ROCK and mitogen-activated protein kinase.

An imbalance of nitric oxide and endothelin plays an important role in cardiovascular disease. Thrombin exerts profound effects on endothelial function. The present study investigated the molecular mechanisms by which thrombin regulates endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and endothelin-converting enzyme (ECE)-1 expression in human endothelial cells. Incubation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells with thrombin (0.01 to 4 U/mL) for 15 to 24 hours markedly downregulated eNOS and increased ECE-1 protein level in a dose-dependent manner. Thrombin also decreased eNOS mRNA and increased ECE-1 mRNA level. In mRNA stability assay, thrombin shortened the half-life of eNOS mRNA but not that of ECE-1 mRNA. Activation of protease-activated receptor 1 by the agonist (SFLLRN, 10 to 100 micromol/L) had no effect on eNOS expression but increased ECE-1 level as thrombin. Thrombin activated Rho A and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1 and ERK2. Inhibition of Rho A by C3 exoenzyme (20 microgram/mL) and ROCK by Y-27632 (10 micromol/L) prevented the downregulation of eNOS expression by thrombin. Y-27632 also prevented the reduction in NOS activity induced by prolonged incubation with thrombin. On the other hand, inhibition of ERK1 and ERK2 activation by PD98059 (50 micromol/L) prevented the upregulation of ECE-1 expression by thrombin as well as the increase in ECE activity and ET-1 accumulation in the medium. Treatment of rat aorta with thrombin overnight impaired endothelium-dependent relaxations but not endothelium-independent relaxations. Thus, thrombin suppresses eNOS and upregulates ECE-1 expression via Rho/ROCK and ERK pathway, respectively. These effects of thrombin may be important for endothelial dysfunction in cardiovascular disease, particularly during acute coronary episodes.

Nebivolol induces NO-mediated relaxations of rat small mesenteric but not of large elastic arteries.

Nebivolol is a newer beta1-selective adrenergic receptor antagonist, which unlike classic beta-blockers, lowers systemic vascular resistance by direct vasodilator effects possibly involving NO. This study was designed to determine the effects of nebivolol on small arteries, which contribute to the most part of systemic vascular resistance. Mesenteric arteries, isolated from 9-week-old Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats, were studied under perfused and pressurized conditions using a video dimension analyzer. Aortic rings from the same animals were suspended in organ chambers, and isometric tension was measured. Experiments were performed during contraction to prostaglandin F2alpha. In small arteries, nebivolol (10(-9) to 3 x 10(-5) M) induced concentration-dependent relaxations (maximum, 55 +/- 8%). The relaxations were less pronounced as compared with those to acetylcholine (maximum, 99 +/- 2%; p < 0.05), but were significantly greater than those to atenolol (maximum, 2 +/- 0%; p < 0.05). Nebivolol-induced responses were markedly reduced by the NO-synthase inhibitor N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine methylester (L-NAME; 10(-4) M; maximum, 11 +/- 2%; p < 0.05). This inhibition could be entirely reversed by pretreatment with L-arginine (10(-3) M; maximum, 46 +/- 7%), a precursor of NO. In contrast to mesenteric arteries, nebivolol did not affect vascular tension of precontracted aortas. These findings indicate that nebivolol induces NO-mediated relaxations in small arteries but not large elastic vessels and therefore, independent of its antihypertensive action, might be effective in protecting the microcirculation in various cardiovascular disease states.

Effect of antioxidant trace elements on the response of cardiac tissue to oxidative stress.

It is now well established that several trace elements, because of their involvement in the catalytic activity and spatial conformation of antioxidant enzymes, may contribute to the prevention of oxidative stress such as occurs upon reperfusion of ischemic tissue. The aim of this paper is (1) to review the role of these trace elements (Cu, Mn, Se, and Zn) in antioxidant cellular defenses in the course of post-ischemic reperfusion of cardiac tissue, (2) to provide experimental data suggesting that variations in trace element dietary intake may modulate the vulnerability of cardiac tissue to ischemia-reperfusion, and (3) to discuss in more detail the effect of Mn ions, which seem to play a special protective role against reperfusion injury. Some results obtained from experiments in animal models of myocardial reperfusion have shown that the dietary intake of such trace elements can modulate cardiac activity of antioxidant enzymes and, consequently, the degree of reperfusion damage. In addition, experimental data on the protective effects of an acute treatment with Mn are presented. Finally, experimental evidence on the protective role of salen-Mn complexes, which exhibit catalytic SOD- and CAT-like activities against reperfusion injury, are described. These complexes should be of considerable interest in clinical conditions.

Manganese reduces myocardial reperfusion injury on isolated rat heart.

It has been shown that reactive oxygen species produced during the early phase of myocardial post-ischemic reperfusion are one of the main causes of reperfusion injury. This observation has led to various antioxidant strategies using many reactive oxygen species scavengers, including manganese complexes. The aim of the present work was to provide a reference study of the effects of manganese itself (MnCl2) on isolated rat hearts submitted to global total normothermic ischemia (30 min) and reperfusion (60 min). McCl2 was administered either during the first 10 min reperfusion (10(-5)M and 10(-4)M) or throughout reperfusion (10(-4)M). After 10 min reperfusion, no functional difference was evidenced between control and manganese-treated groups, whereas high energy phosphate contents were significantly higher in treated groups. MnCl2 10(-4)M enhanced the recovery of developed pressure between 40 and 55 min reperfusion. At the end of reperfusion, hearts treated during the first 10 min reperfusion showed a better metabolic recovery. The group treated throughout reperfusion showed a better metabolic recovery, but a reduced coronary flow and a weak recovery of developed pressure. These results suggest that MnCl2, administered during the early phase of reperfusion, protects against myocardial reperfusion injury. This effect might be mediated by manganese antioxidant properties.

Vasodilatory effects of a salen-manganese complex with potent oxyradical scavenger activities.

The effects on rat aorta of EUK-8, a salen-manganese complex with high superoxide dismutase and catalase activities, were investigated. EUK-8 protected the acetylcholine-induced relaxation of rat aortic rings from inhibition by superoxide anions and reduced H2O2-induced relaxation. Moreover, EUK-8 dose-dependently relaxed rat aorta precontracted with phenylephrine (10(-6) M) and decreased the vascular tone of noncontracted aortic rings. The relaxant effect of EUK-8 was significantly potentiated by endothelium abrasion and/or preincubation with N-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (10(-5) M and 5 x 10(-4) M), an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase. Indomethacin (10(-5) M) had no effect on the action of EUK-8, showing that it was not dependent on prostacyclin synthesis. Methylene blue (10(-5) M), an inhibitor of soluble guanylate cyclase, partly abolished relaxation induced by EUK-8. Incubation of rat aorta with EUK-8 (10(-4) M) induced an increase in vascular cyclic AMP content. The lack of inhibition by dl-propranolol showed that adenylate cyclase activation by EUK-8 was not mediated through beta-adrenergic receptors. The inhibition of the effects of EUK-8 by tetraethylammonium (10(-2) M) and glibenclamide (10(-5) and 2 x 10(-5) M) showed the implication of potassium channels in the intracellular cascade triggered by EUK-8. The vasorelaxant activity of EUK-8 was neither affected by xanthine oxidase inhibition (incubation with oxypurinol 25 microM) nor by superoxide anion scavenging (incubation with oxypurinol 125 microM). Finally, the ligand for EUK-8 (EUK-8 without manganese), which has the same aromatic structure as EUK-8 without its antioxidant activities because of the absence of manganese, conversely potentiated phenylephrine-induced contraction of aortic rings. We conclude that the vasorelaxant effect of EUK-8 observed under our experimental conditions is essentially mediated through an activation of adenylate cyclase and soluble guanylate cyclase of smooth muscle cells and is different from a classical antioxidant effect of protection of nitric oxide.

Oral selenium supplementation in rats reduces cardiac toxicity of adriamycin during ischemia and reperfusion.

The aim of the present study was to assess whether an 8-wk oral selenium supplementation (standard food enriched with 2500 micrograms Se/kg) in rats might prevent the cardiotoxicity of adriamycin (ADR) treatment. ADR was administered at a dose of 2.5 mg/kg body wt intraperitoneally twice weekly for 3 wk. One week after the end of ADR treatment, rats (n = 10 per group) were killed and their hearts were perfused on a Langendorff mode and subjected to a 30-min period of low-flow ischemia (residual flow = 0.1 ml/min) followed by reperfusion (15 min). The results were as follows: 1) selenium supplementation significantly increased the activity of cardiac mitochondrial glutathione peroxidase (GPx) in ADR-treated rats (control: 206 +/- 17.4 IU/g protein; Se: 277 +/- 24.5 IU/g protein, p < 0.05); 2) selenium supplementation reduced myocardial malondialdehyde content in ADR-treated rats (control: 1220 +/- 49.1 nmol/g protein; Se: 1010 +/- 75.9 nmol/g protein; p < 0.05); and 3) ADR treatment significantly increased the degree of reperfusion-induced structural alterations to sarcomeres compared to untreated hearts. Again, this phenomenon was abolished by selenium supplementation. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that selenium supplementation is able to limit ADR cardiotoxicity in isolated rat hearts submitted to a sequence of ischemia/reperfusion.