Effects of LY117018 and the estrogen analogue, 17alpha-ethinylestradiol, on vascular reactivity, platelet aggregation, and lipid metabolism in the insulin-resistant JCR:LA-cp male rat: role of nitric oxide.

The JCR:LA-cp rat is obese and insulin resistant and develops a major vasculopathy, with associated ischemic damage to the heart. Male rats were treated with 17alpha-ethinylestradiol (EE), LY117018, and/or the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME). LY117018 decreased plasma cholesterol esters, with a 40% reduction in total cholesterol. EE increased triglyceride levels and modestly decreased cholesterol esters. L-NAME increased blood pressure and aortic contractile sensitivity to phenylephrine and inhibited acetylcholine-induced relaxation. LY117018 decreased the force of contraction. The L-NAME-mediated increase in force of contraction and decrease in response to acetylcholine was inhibited by LY117018. L-NAME-induced hypertension was prevented by LY117018. Platelet aggregation was not different between obese and lean rats and was unaffected by L-NAME. LY117018, both in the absence and presence of L-NAME, inhibited platelet aggregation. The effects of LY117018 are apparently mediated through both NO-dependent and -independent mechanisms. The changes induced by EE and LY117018 may reflect the activation of multiple mechanisms, both estrogen receptor-dependent and -independent. The changes induced by LY117018 are significant and may prove to be cardioprotective in the presence of the insulin resistance syndrome.

Vascular wall reactivity in conductance and resistance arteries: differential effects of insulin resistance.

Insulin resistance is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease that is probably related to abnormalities of vascular wall function. The JCR:LA-cp rat is a unique animal model of human vascular disease that exhibits a profound insulin resistance, vasculopathy, and cardiovascular disease, and allows study of the relationships between insulin resistance and vascular function. Conductance and resistance arteries serve different functions, thus vascular disease may affect these types of artery differently. Concentration-response curves to norepinephrine, phenylephrine, and acetylcholine were studied in conductance vessels (aortic rings) and resistance vessels (mesenteric arteries) from 12-week-old male obese and lean JCR:LA-cp rats. The aortic rings and mesenteric arteries from obese rats showed increased maximal response to phenylephrine compared with those from lean rats, whereas only the mesenteric arteries from obese rats showed increased maximal response to norepinephrine. In aortic rings, relaxation to acetylcholine was similar for both genotypes, but the mesenteric arteries of obese rats showed impaired relaxation to acetylcholine. We conclude that the sensitivity to vasoconstriction is enhanced in aortic rings and mesenteric arteries of obese male JCR:LA-cp rats, but endothelial function is impaired only in the mesenteric resistance arteries of these animals. Hence functional aberrations in the obese, insulin-resistant state are more pronounced in mesenteric resistance arteries than in a major conductance artery.

Inhibition of nitric oxide generation unmasks vascular dysfunction in insulin-resistant, obese JCR:LA-cp rats.

1. The effects of nitric oxide (NO) on vascular reactivity and platelet function in the obese (cp/cp) and lean (+/?) JCR:LA-cp rats were investigated. 2. Phenylephrine (PE; 0.1 nM-10 microM) induced contraction of isolated aortic rings in both genotypes (cp/cp and +/?) of JCR:LA-cp rats. The sensitivity to contraction with PE was enhanced in cp/cp compared with +/? rings. Rings from both genotypes showed an increased contraction upon removal of the endothelium. 3. Acetylcholine (ACh; 0.1 nM-10 microM)-induced endothelium-dependent relaxation of rings was not significantly different in the two genotypes. Both were inhibited to a similar extent by NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME; 0.01-1 mM) when administered in vitro. 4. The nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor (L-NAME; 0.3, 1 or 3 mg ml(-1), p.o.) when administered in vivo increased blood pressure in cp/cp rats but not in +/? rats. 5. L-NAME resulted in greater inhibition of ACh-induced relaxation in cp/cp rings compared with +/? rings. 6. L-NAME treatment in vivo caused a decrease in cyclic GMP and NOS activity in rings from cp/cp but not +/? rats. 7. The NO donor, S-nitroso-N-acetyl-DL-penicillamine (SNAP; 0.1 nM-10 microM)-induced relaxation of rings from +/? rats, an effect enhanced by the treatment with L-NAME in vivo. 8. Oral administration of L-NAME did not enhance the vasorelaxant effect of SNAP on rings of aorta from cp/cp animals. 9. Platelet aggregation and NOS activity were similar in both genotypes and were not modified by oral administration of L-NAME. 10. These results show that unimpaired generation of NO is crucial for maintenance of vascular tone particularly under conditions of vascular insult exemplified by insulin resistance, obesity and dyslipidemia detected in cp/cp rats.

Induction of nitric oxide synthase by endotoxin in rat isolated aorta but not in rat aortic smooth muscle cells grown in culture from explant.

Incubation of endothelium-denuded rings of rat aorta at 37 degrees C for 18 hours in Krebs solution led to a profound depression of the contractile actions of phenylephrine (1 nM-10 mu M). A major component of this depression of vasoconstriction was due to the relaxant actions of nitric oxide since it was reversed following inhibition of the synthesis of nitric oxide with N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester or its actions with haemoglobin (30 microM) or methylene blue (10 mu M). The depression was also reversed upon treatment with LY83583 (0.1-1 microM which generates superoxide anions, intracellularly and extracellularly, but was unaffected by hypoxanthine (100 microM)/ xanthine oxidase (16 mu/ml) which generates superoxide anion only extracellularly. The ability of polymixin B (30 microM) to inhibit the development of the depression of vasoconstriction suggests that it results from the expression of an inducible form of nitric oxide synthase, stimulated by bacterial lipopolysaccharide, contaminating the Krebs solution. In contrast to aortic rings, we found that lipopolysaccharide (10-10,000 ng/ml) alone from S. typhosa was unable to stimulate the expression of the inducible form of nitric oxide synthase in rat aortic smooth muscle cells grown in culture from explant, as assessed either by measuring the accumulation of nitrite into the culture medium during a 24 hour incubation period or by measuring the smooth muscle cyclic GMP content. Interferon-gamma (1-100 IU/ml) and interleukin-1 alpha (1-10 IU/ml) alone were, however, able to stimulate the accumulation of nitrite in a concentration-dependent manner. These inductions of nitrite accumulation were abolished following treatment with N(G)-nitro-(L)-arginine methyl ester (1 mM) and dexamethasone (1 microM). Further investigations are required to determine whether the ability of bacterial lipopolysaccharide to induce the inducible form of nitric oxide synthase in rat aortic rings, but not in rat aortic smooth muscle cells in culture, results from the presence of an endotoxin-sensitive, cytokine-secreting cell type in the vessel wall which is absent in culture, or from differences in smooth muscle phenotype in situ and in culture.