Facilitation of renal autoregulation by angiotensin II is mediated through modulation of nitric oxide.

AIMS: This study was designed to investigate the influence of angiotensin II (Ang II) and nitric oxide (NO) on autoregulation of renal perfusion. METHODS: Autoregulation was investigated in isolated perfused kidneys (IPRK) from Sprague-Dawley rats during stepped increases in perfusion pressure. RESULTS: Ang II (75-200 pM) produced dose-dependent enhancement of autoregulation whereas phenylephrine produced no enhancement and impaired autoregulation of GFR. Enhancement by Ang II was inhibited by the AT1 antagonist, Losartan, and the superoxide scavenger, Tempol. Under control conditions nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibition by 10 microm N-omega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) facilitated autoregulation in the presence of non-specific cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibition by 10 microm indomethacin. Both COX and combined NOS/COX inhibition reduced the autoregulatory threshold concentration of Ang II. Facilitation by 100 pm Ang II was inhibited by 100 microm frusemide. Methacholine (50 nm) antagonised Ang II-facilitated autoregulation in the presence and absence of NOS/COX inhibition. Infusion of the NO donor, 1 microm sodium nitroprusside, inhibited L-NAME enhancement of autoregulation under control conditions and during Ang II infusion. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest than an excess of NO impairs autoregulation under control conditions in the IPRK and that endogenous and exogenous NO, vasodilatory prostaglandins and endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF) activity antagonise Ang II-facilitated autoregulation. Ang II also produced a counterregulatory vasodilatory response that included prostaglandin and NO release. We suggest that Ang II facilitates autoregulation by a tubuloglomerular feedback-dependent mechanism through AT1 receptor-mediated depletion of nitric oxide, probably by stimulating generation of superoxide.

Serine isotopmer analysis by 13C-NMR defines glycine-serine interconversion in situ in the renal proximal tubule.

[2-(13)C]glycine metabolism was studied in freshly isolated rat renal proximal tubules. Mitochondrial coupling of the glycine cleavage complex (GC) and serine hydroxymethyltransferase (SHMT) was confirmed by the formation of three serine isotopomers, [2-(13)C]-, [3-(13)C]- and [2,3-(13)C]serine, detected by 13C-NMR. Incubation with different fractions of 13C-labelled glycine altered the labelling pattern of the serine isotopomers predictably and allowed calculation of the 13C-labelled fractions of total glycine and methylene in N5,N10-methylenetetrahydrofolate (m-THF) available for serine metabolism. Within 20 min there was a fall in labelled glycine (to 42 +/- 3, 68 +/- 3 and 93 +/- 2%, (n = 4, mean +/- S.D.) from 50%, 75% and 100% 13C-labelled added glycine respectively), followed by a slow rate of endogenous glycine formation for up to 80 min incubation. The C2 of glycine was the source of more than 90% of the methylene group of m-THF formed. Gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) showed that greater than 50% of serine formed was unlabelled. GC and SHMT proceeded in the direction of serine formation. Serine isotopomer analysis by NMR and GC-MS allowed the actions of GC and SHMT and de novo contributions to glycine, serine and m-THF to be monitored in situ in fresh renal proximal tubules.

Modulation of glycine-serine interconversion by TCA and glycolytic intermediates in normoxic and hypoxic proximal tubules.

Glycine-serine interconversion is important to numerous metabolic processes and serine release by the kidney. Incubation of freshly isolated rat renal proximal tubules with 5 mM glycine 75% 13C-labelled in the 2-position resulted in 13C-labelled incorporation into serine of 69 micromol.g protein(-1) (+/- 14, n = 16) at 20 min. Addition of 5 mM glucose, 4 mM lactate, 1 mM alanine, 1 mM butyrate and 1 mM glutamate increased 13C-label incorporation into serine to 173 micromol.g protein(-1) (+/- 32, n = 4) at 60 min, 50% greater than tubules incubated with 5 mM glycine alone (P < 0.05). The increase was prevented by hypoxia. Reoxygenation for 20 min restored the rate of incorporation of 13C-label into serine. The fraction of unlabelled serine remained approximately 47% at 20, 40 and 60 min in each group. The results indicate that in the presence of oxygen, TCA and glycolytic intermediates stimulate serine synthesis via the glycine cleavage complex and serine hydroxymethyltransferase pathways and not the phosphorylated pathway. In addition, significant serine production occurs from an unidentified source, which is also tightly coupled to glycine metabolism. Both in the presence and absence of added TCA and glycolytic intermediates, glycine was the principle source of the methylene group in methylene tetrahydrofolate.

DNA synthesis by pituitary tumours, with reference to plasma hormone levels and to effects of bromocriptine.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: In parathyroid adenomas and experimentally in the normal rat pituitary gland, cell replication and secretory activity were previously shown to be correlated. A similar relationship has now been investigated in human pituitary tumours, since this could have relevance to their growth and aetiology. The effect of bromocriptine on the two variables was examined. PATIENTS: Data were derived from 50 patients undergoing operation for pituitary tumour, including 15 with acromegaly and 11 with prolactinoma. MEASUREMENTS: Preoperative plasma levels of GH, PRL and gonadotrophins were measured by radioimmunoassay. DNA synthesis, an index of cell replication, was measured in vitro in freshly removed tumour tissue. Nuclear diameter of tumour cells was measured in histological sections and immunostaining for relevant hormones was carried out on tumour tissue. RESULTS: DNA synthesis was correlated (P < 0.05) with plasma hormone levels in cases of prolactinoma, both treated and not treated with bromocriptine, and in a group of putative FSH secreting tumours from male patients. The correlation was not significant in cases of acromegaly. Comparisons of mean values between groups treated and not treated with bromocriptine showed significantly lower DNA synthesis and mean nuclear diameter in prolactinomas under treatment but not in GH secreting tumours. CONCLUSIONS: The findings in prolactinomas suggest a close relationship between secretion and tumour cell replication dependent on still undefined agents, but including dopamine, affecting both variables, and isoforms of PRL, which may stimulate or inhibit replication of PRL secreting cells. The basis of the relationship in FSH secreting tumours is unknown. The relationship was absent in the non-homogeneous group of GH secreting tumours. When secretion and growth are correlated, the secretory process may be the site of the primary abnormality in the tumour cell. Evidence that bromocriptine inhibits tumour cell replication was obtained for prolactinomas but not for GH secreting tumours.

23Na NMR detects protection by glycine and alanine against hypoxic injury in the isolated perfused rat kidney.

Protection against hypoxic injury by supraphysiological glycine and alanine concentrations was investigated in the isolated perfused rat kidney (IPRK). 23Na NMR detects consistent increases in total renal Na in IPRK during hypoxic perfusion. Increasing the concentration of glycine and alanine to 5 mM each produced a 34% (p < 0.001) reduction in the increase in total renal Na following 30 minutes of hypoxia compared to a matched control group supplemented with 5 mM each of serine and glutamine. There was also a trend (p = 0.067) to improvement in the fractional excretion of sodium (FENa) in the glycine plus alanine treated group. Hypoxic alterations of other physiological parameters were not prevented by supraphysiological glycine plus alanine. This suggests that monitoring total renal Na is a more sensitive method of defining renal injury and protection than monitoring changes in FENa, fractional excretion of potassium (FEK) and inulin clearance.

Apoptosis in the anterior pituitary gland of the rat: studies with estrogen and bromocriptine.

Apoptosis was investigated by electron and light microscopy in the anterior pituitary gland of the male Fischer rat in which hyperplasia of prolactin-secreting cells had been induced by estrogen implanted subcutaneously for 6 weeks. Counts by light microscopy of apoptotic cells and cells containing phagocytosed apoptotic bodies increased during a period of 44 h after estrogen withdrawal. Necrosis was present but was not prominent. Administration of bromocriptine after estrogen withdrawal increased apoptotic counts to nearly double those in the absence of bromocriptine. Bromocriptine caused some increase in necrosis. Apoptosis occurred in prolactin-secreting cells identified by immunostaining and in other cells. Phagocytosed apoptotic bodies were seen in folliculo-stellate and not in other cells. It is concluded that apoptosis occurs in the anterior pituitary gland and is induced by bromocriptine. Phagocytosis of apoptotic bodies is a function of the folliculo-stellate cells.

The parathyroid glands in chronic renal failure: a study of their growth and other properties made on the basis of findings in patients with hypercalcemia.

We investigated the growth of hyperplastic parathyroid glands removed at operation from 16 patients with chronic renal failure complicated by hypercalcemia, by incubating fresh tissue with tritiated thymidine. In each gland the proportion of cells synthesizing DNA was determined directly by counting labeled nuclei after autoradiography and indirectly from incorporation of label into DNA, and the mean diameter of chief cell nuclei was measured. Both DNA synthesis and mean nuclear diameter were positively correlated with plasma calcium level. Assuming the mean duration of S phase to be 12 hours, the birthrate of new cells (mean +/- SD) was 18.5% +/- 23.6% per year, significantly (p less than 0.05) greater than the 11.5% +/- 7.4% per year found in 63 parathyroid adenomas previously studied. On the basis of estimated disease duration, the minimum birthrate needed to grow glands of the observed weight was 23.4% +/- 16.5% per year. The similarity between observed and needed birthrates indicates that the glands were growing almost as fast as when renal failure began, and that parathyroid growth was no longer regulated in accordance with normal plasma calcium homeostasis. To account for this, we propose that the disordered growth is a consequence of an increase in secretory set point, which in turn is a consequence of calcitriol deficiency. Because the effectiveness of parathyroid hormone is impaired in renal failure, a large increase in total hormone secretion is needed to raise the plasma calcium level to the new set point, and the necessary increase in gland size can be achieved only by a sustained increase in the rate of cell division.