Analysis of anticaries potential of pit and fissures sealants containing amorphous calcium phosphate using synchrotron microtomography.

The aim of this study was to analyze the anticaries potential of pit and fissure sealants containing amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) by synchrotron microtomography. Bovine enamel blocks (4×4 mm; n=50) were selected through surface hardness (Knoop) analysis. Slabs were obtained through cross-sections taken 1 mm from the border of the enamel. Five indentations, spaced 100 µm apart, were made 300 µm from the border. Ten specimens were prepared for each tested material (Ultraseal XT plus TM, Aegis, Embrace, Vitremer and Experimental Sealant). The materials were randomly attached to the sectioned surfaces of the enamel blocks and fixed with sticky wax. The specimens were submitted to pH cycling. After that, the surface hardness (SH1) was determined, and the blocks were submitted to synchrotron microcomputed tomography analysis to calculate the mineral concentration (ΔgHAp cm(-3)) at different areas of the enamel. The comparison between the SH1 and ΔgHAp cm(-3) showed a correlation for all groups (r=0.840; p<0.001). The fluoride groups presented positive values of ΔgHAp cm(-3), indicating a mineral gain that was observed mainly in the outer part of the enamel. The ACP showed mineral loss in the outer enamel compared with fluoride groups, although it inhibited the demineralization in the deeper areas of enamel. The combination of two remineralizing agents (fluoride and ACP) was highly effective in preventing demineralization.

GW3965, a synthetic liver X receptor (LXR) agonist, reduces angiotensin II-mediated pressor responses in Sprague-Dawley rats.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Liver X receptors (LXRs) activate genes that regulate lipid and cholesterol metabolism. LXR agonists were shown recently to also increase murine renin gene expression in vivo. To further examine a link between lipid metabolism, the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone-system and blood pressure regulation, we investigated the effect of a LXR agonist (GW3965) on angiotensin II (Ang II)-mediated vasoreactivity and vascular angiotensin II receptor (ATR) gene expression. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: Arterial blood pressure (BP) was measured during Ang II infusions (1.5 min duration; 0.001-3 microg kg(-1)) in pentobarbital-anesthetized male Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 6-9) after oral administration of GW3965 (10 mg kg(-1), q.d.) or vehicle for 7 - 15 days. Mesenteric arteries and plasma were collected to analyze ATR gene expression and to measure plasma renin activity (PRA) and lipid profile, respectively. KEY RESULTS: Basal mean arterial pressure (MAP) was similar between groups. GW3965 dosing blunted the vasopressor effect of Ang II, which was significantly different with the 0.3 and 3 microg kg(-1) doses. No difference in heart rate, PRA or lipid profile was observed between groups. A time-course indicated that ATR type 1 and 2 gene expression of GW3965-treated vs. vehicle-treated rats decreased by 50%, reaching significance for ATR type 2, but not for ATR type 1, at time-points coinciding with BP measurements. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: GW3965 decreased Ang II-mediated vasopressor responses coincident with a trend toward reduced ATR gene expression, suggesting that LXR agonists could affect vascular reactivity.

Effect of sirolimus on the cholesterol content of aortic arch in ApoE knockout mice.

Chronic inflammatory responses involving the immune system have been implicated in the process of atherosclerosis. Sirolimus (Rapamycin, Rapamune), a potent immunosuppressant used to prevent rejection of transplanted kidneys, has also proven effective at inhibiting restenosis in humans when eluted from implanted stents. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of sirolimus treatment on the development of atherosclerosis in the aortic arch of apo E-/- mice fed a high-fat (Western) diet. Following 12 weeks of treatment with sirolimus (4 mg/kg/d), the cholesterol content of the arch was reduced by 36% compared to untreated control mice fed the Western diet only. Although the murine model is not comparable to the human situation, the results of this study suggest that sirolimus may exert beneficial effects on atherosclerosis in transplant patients.

Retinal capillary dilation: early diabetic-like retinopathy in the galactose-fed rat model.

UNLABELLED: The purpose of this study was to determine whether capillary dilation is one of the earliest structural changes in the diabetic-like retinopathy of the galactose-fed rat model and thus may represent a stage where intervention treatment might still be effective. Weanling female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into 3 groups and fed Purina laboratory chow plus one of the following for 4 months: 50% starch (CONTROL); 50% D-galactose (Galactose); or 50% D-galactose with ARI-509 (25 mg/kg body wt/day) (Inhibitor). One eye from each of 5 rats per treatment group was processed for retinal vasculature wholemounts using elastase digestion, stained with a standard periodic-acid-Schiff reaction and counterstained with hematoxylin. Average capillary width, overall capillary density and total capillary length were measured, using computerized image analysis, within an arc-shaped area (4.4 mm2) of each vasculature surrounding, but separated from, the optic disc margin by approximately 0.7 mm. Galactose rats exhibited significant (p < 0.001) increases in capillary width (Mean +/- SEM: 7.56 +/- 0.07 microm) and density (42.78 +/- 0.37%) compared with CONTROL rats (6.68 +/- 0.11 microm and 37.18 +/- 0.30%, respectively). These increases were prevented with inhibitor treatment (6.58 +/- 0.16 microm and 35.88 +/- 0.97%, respectively). Capillary length remained unchanged at 4 months ( CONTROL: 246.66 +/- 2.46 mm; Galactose: 250.75 +/- 1.26 mm; Inhibitor: 242.25 +/- 8.43 mm). Retinal capillary dilation, expressed as increased width and density, is one of the earliest detectable lesions in galactose-fed rats. In these rats, the lesion occurs as early as retinal capillary basement membrane thickening (RCBMT), one of the earliest reported changes in human diabetic retinopathy. Like RCBMT, capillary dilation can be prevented in rats with aldose reductase inhibitor treatment. Unlike RCBMT, capillary dilation could be clinically detectable and may be useful for the diagnosis of early retinopathy and for determining the timing of therapeutic intervention.

Protein kinase C effects on nerve function, perfusion, Na(+), K(+)-ATPase activity and glutathione content in diabetic rats.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Increased protein kinase C activity has been linked to diabetic vascular complications in the retina and kidney, which were attenuated by protein kinase C antagonist treatment. Neuropathy has a vascular component, therefore, the aim was to assess whether treatment with WAY151 003 or chelerythrine, inhibitors of protein kinase C regulatory and catalytic domains respectively, could correct nerve blood flow, conduction velocity, Na(+),K(+)-ATPase, and glutathione deficits in diabetic rats. METHODS: Diabetes was induced by streptozotocin. Sciatic nerve conduction velocity was measured in vivo and sciatic endoneurial perfusion was monitored by microelectrode polarography and hydrogen clearance. Glutathione content and Na(+),K(+)-ATPase activity were measured in extracts from homogenised sciatic nerves. RESULTS: After 8 weeks of diabetes, sciatic blood flow was 50 % reduced. Two weeks of WAY151 003 (3 or 100 mg/kg) treatment completely corrected this deficit and chelerythrine dose-dependently improved nerve perfusion. The inhibitors dose-dependently corrected a 20 % diabetic motor conduction deficit, however, at high doses ( > 3.0 mg/kg WAY151003; > 0.1 mg/kg chelerythrine) conduction velocity was reduced towards the diabetic level. Sciatic Na(+),K(+)-ATPase activity, 42 % reduced by diabetes, was partially corrected by low but not high dose WAY151 003. In contrast, only a very high dose of chelerythrine partially restored Na(+),K(+)-ATPase activity. A 30 % diabetic deficit in sciatic glutathione content was unchanged by protein kinase C inhibition. The benefits of WAY151 003 on blood flow and conduction velocity were blocked by nitric oxide synthase inhibitor co-treatment. CONCLUSION/INTERPRETATION: Protein kinase C contributes to experimental diabetic neuropathy by a neurovascular mechanism rather than through Na(+),K(+)-ATPase defects.

Diabetic-like retinopathy: early and late intervention therapies in galactose-fed rats.

PURPOSE: To determine whether the diabetic-like thickening of retinal capillary basement membrane (RCBM) that develops in the galactose-fed rat model of diabetic ocular complications could be halted or ameliorated after 4 or 8 months of galactosemia by treatment with ARI-509, a potent new aldose reductase inhibitor (ARI), or by withdrawal of the galactose diet. METHODS: Weanling female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into eight groups and fed laboratory chow plus 50% starch, control group (CON); 50% D-galactose, galactose-fed group (GAL); 50% D-galactose with ARI-509 at 25 mg/kg or 10 mg/kg body wt per day, high-dose prevention group (HDP) and low-dose prevention group (LDP), respectively; 50% D-galactose for 4 or 8 months and then intervention by addition of ARI-509 (25 mg/kg body wt per day), 4-month intervention group (4IN) and 8-month intervention group (8IN), respectively; or 50% D-galactose for 4 or 8 months and then intervention by withdrawing galactose and replacing it with the 50% starch diet, 4-month galactose withdrawal group (4GW) and 8-month galactose withdrawal group (8GW), respectively. After 4, 8, 16, and 24 months of the experimental diets, the levels of carbohydrates in tissues and the extent of RCBM thickening in capillaries of the outer plexiform layer were determined in all groups. RESULTS: Retinal polyol was reduced by 95% in all ARI-treated groups and by 100% in the 4GW and 8GW groups after withdrawal of the galactose. The mean RCBM thickness increased rapidly in GAL rats, becoming almost two times greater (189 +/- 9.4 nm) than in CON rats (103 +/- 3.4 nm) by 24 months. Treatment with ARI-509 in high and low doses (HDP, LDP) initiated with the introduction of the galactose diet significantly prevented RCBM thickening at all time points (P < 0.05). In contrast, intervention by withdrawing galactose from the diet or by adding the high dose of ARI-509 had no significant effect (P < 0.05) on RCBM thickening until the 24-month time point (4IN, 166 +/- 10.3 nm; 8IN, 161 +/- 8.2 nm; 4GW, 136 +/- 5.1 nm; 8GW, 163 +/- 9.6 nm). CONCLUSIONS: Both early and late interventions decreased RCBM thickening compared with that in untreated GAL rats. The decreased thickening, however, was not evident until 16 to 20 months after the intervention. Because RCBM thickening is one of the earliest changes in diabetic and galactosemic retinopathy, the findings suggest that RCBM thickening and possibly subsequent retinal lesions are caused by early biochemical alterations induced by the galactose diet that are not readily reversed. The delayed response to therapy is consistent with that observed in the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial. The cumulative evidence indicates that intervention should begin as early after onset of diabetes as possible, and long follow-up periods should be used to evaluate efficacy.

Diabetic-like retinopathy ameliorated with the aldose reductase inhibitor WAY-121,509.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy of WAY-121,509, a potent new aldose reductase inhibitor (ARI), in preventing the retinopathy that develops in the galactose-fed rat model of diabetic ocular complications. METHODS: Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into treatment and duration groups and fed diets with either 50% starch of 50% galactose with or without WAY-121,509 (25 mg/kg body weight per day). Progression of cataracts was monitored by slit-lamp biomicroscopy. After duration of 4, 8, 16, and 24 months, levels of plasma glucose and glycated hemoglobin, as well as erythrocyte and retinal galactose and galactitol, were measured in rats in each group. Retinal vasculatures of the 24-month rats were isolated by elastase digestion and analyzed by computer-assisted morphometry. RESULTS: Mature, diabetic-like cataracts developed within 5 weeks in all the galactose-fed, untreated rats, but only nonprogressive anterior cortical opacities were present in lenses of 85% of the ARI-treated galactosemic animals after 3 months. Plasma glucose remained the same in all groups. Erythrocyte and retinal galactose and glycated (galactosylated) hemoglobin were elevated with galactosemia and were unaffected by ARI treatment. Erythrocyte and retinal galactitol levels were decreased by 91% and 95%, respectively, with inhibitor treatment. At 24 months, capillary length, width, density, the number of microaneurysms, and the percent of capillary length involved in intraretinal microvascular abnormalities, expressed as hypercellular channels with diameters > 20 microns, were significantly increased by galactosemia and were attenuated in the galactose-fed, ARI-treated group. CONCLUSIONS: A dose of WAY-121,509 sufficient to reduce retinal polyol levels by 95% ameliorated the development of galactose-induced cataracts and diabetic-like retinopathy but was insufficient to prevent early lens opacifications or all the diabetic-like retinal microangiopathies.

Aminoguanidine does not inhibit aldose reductase activity in galactose-fed rats.

Aminoguanidine, nucleophilic hydrazine derivative, has been shown to inhibit diamine oxidase, the formation of advanced glycation endproducts, nitric oxide synthase, and catalase. Prompted by the reports that aminoguanidine also inhibits aldose reductase (AR), we have investigated the effect of aminoguanidine, 1,3-diaminoguanidine, and methylguanidine on AR activity in vitro, and in vivo. In vitro, we have measured the inhibition of AR isolated from bovine lenses; in vivo, we have examined the effect on the galactitol levels in the red blood cells, sciatic nerve, retina, and lens of rats administered the test compounds for 11 days in the drinking water and, for the last 4 days, given access to a 20% galactose diet. Two known, structurally distinct AR inhibitors, tolrestat and compound WAY-121,509, were used as reference. In vitro, at concentrations up to 1.0 mmol/L, none of the tested guanidine derivatives had any effect on AR. As a corollary, in vivo, at doses ranging from 201 to 349 mg/kg/day, none of the guanidine derivatives affected tissular galactitol levels. We conclude that, in short-term galactose-fed rats, at the doses tested, aminoguanidine, 1,3-diaminoguanidine, and methylguanidine do not inhibit AR.