Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:3.4.15.1 (ACE)
 18,300 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

This paper provides a method for directly determining vanadium in workplace air by direct current plasma atomic emission spectrometry (DCP-AES). Wavelength selection, instrument operating parameters, and sample preparation methods were studied. It was found that the most suitable wavelength for the analytical line is 437.924 nm (DL 0.006 mg/L) but also the line 309.311 nm (DL 0.003 mg/L) can be used. The results obtained by DCP-AES were compared with those obtained by both flame (FAAS) and electrothermal atomization (ETA-AAS) atomic absorption spectrometry.
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PMID:Determination of vanadium in workplace air by DCP emission spectrometry. 662 49

Endothelin-1 (ET-1) and angiotensin II (AII) are potent vasoconstrictor hormones which regulate tissue perfusion and blood pressure. We pharmacologically characterized endothelin and angiotensin receptors mediating contractions of human mammary resistance arteries in myographs for isometric tension recording. ET-1 caused potent contractions. The concentration response curve was shifted to the right by ETA antagonist FR 139317, but a high sensitivity, low efficacy component remained. After incubation with ETB agonist sarafotoxin (S6c) this component of the concentration response curve resistant to FR 139317 disappeared. The ETA/ETB-receptor antagonist bosentan shifted the entire concentration response curve to the right. AI and AII caused marked contractions. The effects of AI were reduced by the ACE inhibitor benazeprilat, while those of AII were prevented by valsartan, an AT1 antagonist. In summary, in human resistance arteries, contractions to ET-1 are mediated by ETA- and ETB-receptors while those to AII are exclusively mediated by AT1-receptors.
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PMID:Characterization of contractile endothelin and angiotensin receptors in human resistance arteries: evidence for two endothelin and one angiotensin receptor. 798 May 30

The existence of vasoconstrictive factors originating from the endothelium was confirmed by the description of endothelin, a 21-amino-acid peptide derived from a series of precursors, preproendothelin and a 38-amino-acid big endothelin. Three isoforms of endothelin, endothelin-1, -2 and -3, and 3 receptors (ETA, ETB and ETC) have been described and cloned. The cellular mode of action of endothelin seems to involve the modulation of intracellular calcium (through inositol trisphosphate, diacylglycerol and phospholipase C) and activation of calcium channels. The effects of endothelin are predominantly on the cardiovascular system. Its major effect is vasoconstriction, both systemic and pulmonary, with additional positive chronotropic and inotropic effects on the heart. It has also been implicated in homeostatic regulation of kidney microcirculation, and has powerful mitogenic effects on fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells. Many additional effects have been described on the endocrine system and on other systems. However, the clinical relevance of such effects is uncertain. Increased plasma endothelin levels have been reported in many diseases, but as yet it is not certain whether they are a cause or a consequence of the pathology. Pathologies most probably related to endothelin dysfunction are the vasospastic diseases, especially vasospasm after subarachnoid haemorrhage. Endothelin could be implicated to a lesser measure in diseases typical of the elderly population, such as hypertension or atherosclerosis. Drugs are being developed which act on endothelin metabolism, the most promising of which appear to be the inhibitors of endothelin converting enzyme and endothelin receptor antagonists. Some already existing drugs, such as calcium channel blockers or angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, probably act at least in part by interfering with endothelin metabolism or effects.
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PMID:Endothelins. A potential target for pharmacological intervention in diseases of the elderly. 819 96

Hypertension results in increased thickness and stiffness of large artery walls. The goal of our study was to assess the respective roles of humoral factors such as Ang II, endothelin and blood pressure in these aortic modifications. For this purpose, uninephrectomized rats received DOCA and high salt diet, and when hypertension was installed, they were treated for 5 weeks with either a long-acting calcium antagonist, mibefradil (30 mg/kg/day), an ACE inhibitor, enalapril (3 mg/kg/day), or a mixed ETA and ETB endothelin receptor antagonist, bosentan (100 mg/kg/day). A group of hypertensive rats was left untreated and a sham-operated group of normotensive rats was used for control. At the end of treatment, aortic medial thickness and elastin as well as collagen were evaluated by quantitative morphometry. DOCA-salt hypertensive rats exhibited a marked increase in medial thickness associated with no change in absolute content in extracellular matrix. Elastin relative density decreased in DOCA rats. Enalapril had no effect on arterial pressure. Bosentan decreased slightly (by 12 mm Hg), but not significantly, blood pressure. None of these drugs had an effect on medial thickness suggesting that in DOCA hypertensive rats neither Ang II nor endothelin play a significant role in the remodeling of the aorta. In contrast, mibefradil almost normalized arterial pressure, prevented medial hypertrophy and increased elastin density. Further studies are required in order to assess if this effect is directly linked to the blood pressure decrease or to another mechanism related to the calcium antagonistic property of mibefradil.
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PMID:Respective role of humoral factors and blood pressure in aortic remodeling of DOCA hypertensive rats. 923 40

1. Chronic treatment with a combined ETA/ETB endothelin receptor antagonist has been shown to reduce blood pressure in experimental rat models of hypertension in which endothelin-1 gene overexpression occurs in the walls of blood vessels, particularly small, resistance-sized arteries, but not in those genetic or experimental models of hypertension in which there is no overexpression of vascular endothelin-1. Failure of some experimental models of hypertension to respond to treatment with the combined ETA/ETB endothelin antagonist may be due in part to blockade of vasorelaxant endothelial ETB receptors which could in theory reduce the efficacy of endothelin antagonism. 2. In this study the orally active ETA-selective endothelin antagonists A-127722.5 and LU 135252 were used in chronic experiments on deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)-salt hypertensive rats (which overexpress vascular endothelin-1 and respond with blood pressure lowering to combined ETA/ETB endothelin receptor antagonism), on spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) (which do not overexpress vascular endothelin-1 and do not respond with blood pressure lowering to the combined ETA/ETB receptor antagonist), and in 1-kidney 1 clip Goldblatt (1-K IC) hypertensive rats (which present mild overexpression of vascular endothelin-1 but do not respond with blood pressure lowering to the combined ETA/ETB receptor antagonist). Additionally, it has been suggested that interruption of the renin-angiotensin system may sensitize responses to endothelin antagonism. Accordingly, SHR were treated with an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor, cilazapril, in addition to the ETA receptor antagonist. 3. Blood pressure of DOCA-salt hypertensive rats was lowered by a mean of 24 and of 27 mmHg (P < 0.01) by A-127722.5 after 4 weeks of treatment, when given orally at two different doses (10 and 30 mg kg-1 day-1), and by 18 mmHg by LU 135252 50 mg kg-1 day-1. 4. SHR treated with A-127722.5 for 8 weeks starting at 12 weeks of age exhibited the same progressive rise in blood pressure as untreated SHR. Addition of cilazapril resulted in similar reduction of blood pressure in A-127722.5-treated and untreated SHR. 5. Treatment of 1-K IC hypertensive rats with the dose of LU 135252 which lowered blood pressure in DOCA-salt hypertensive rats did not cause any reduction in blood pressure relative to untreated rats. 6. These results demonstrate that treatment with either dose of the selective ETA receptor antagonists A-127722.5 or LU 135252 caused reductions in blood pressure similar to those obtained for a combined ETA/ETB endothelin antagonist. Blood pressure was lowered only in hypertensive rats known to overexpress vascular endothelin-1 (DOCA-salt hypertensive rats) but not in those which do not (SHR) or only have mild vascular overexpression of endothelin-1 gene (1-K 1C hypertensive rats). Reduction in activity of the renin-angiotensin system in SHR did not sensitize blood pressure to potential hypotensive effects of an ETA-selective receptor antagonist.
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PMID:Effect of chronic ETA-selective endothelin receptor antagonism on blood pressure in experimental and genetic hypertension in rats. 922 50

An activated renal endothelin (ET) system is implicated in the pathogenesis of renal fibrosis, as recently shown in ET-1 transgenic mice. Because progressive renal fibrosis is also a major finding in diabetic nephropathy, we analyzed the activity of the renal ET system in rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus and the effect of blocking the ETA receptor, using the orally active ETA antagonist LU 135252. The effects of long-term treatment with LU 135252 were compared with those of an ACE inhibitor. Plasma and urinary ET-1 concentrations were measured. Progression of diabetic nephropathy was analyzed by measuring urinary albumin and protein excretion. Urinary ET-1 excretion was significantly elevated as early as 7 days after induction of diabetes and increased further. The daily urine volume was significantly correlated with urine ET-1 excretion. Treatment with LU 135252 significantly decreased the ET-1 excretion by more than 50%, whereas ACE inhibition resulted only in a mild decrease. Albumin excretion was significantly decreased after ACE inhibition, whereas ETA inhibition resulted in a nonsignificant decrease. Urinary ET and albumin excretion probably reflect independent mechanisms of renal damage in diabetes.
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PMID:Renal endothelin system in diabetes: comparison of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition and endothelin-A antagonism. 959 22

Endothelins (ET) are 21-aminoacid peptides produced ubiquitously, which were discovered originally as endothelial products. These peptides may play important roles in cardiovascular physiology and pathophysiology. As the pathophysiologic roles of endothelins in cardiovascular disease become increasingly apparent, the potential therapeutic use of endothelin antagonists or endothelin converting enzyme inhibitors is recognized. The main endothelin produced by the endothelium is ET-1. Endothelin-1 is overexpressed in the vascular wall of salt-dependent models of hypertension, such as DOCA-salt hypertensive rats, DOCA-salt-treated spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and Dahl salt-sensitive rats, and in stroke-prone SHR, angiotensin II-infused rats and 1-kidney 1 clip Goldblatt hypertensive rats, but not in SHR, 2-K 1C hypertensive rats or L-NAME-treated rats. The vasoconstrictor effect of ET-1 may contribute to blood pressure elevation and its growth-promoting action to vascular hypertrophy in the hypertensive models which overexpress ET-1 in blood vessels. In rats without generalized activation of the endothelin system, expression of ET-1 is often enhanced in coronary arteries, which suggests a role for ET-1 in myocardial ischemia in hypertension. In rats overexpressing ET-1, ETA/B and ETA-selective antagonists lowered blood pressure slightly, and significantly reduced vascular growth, particularly of small arteries, suggesting that ET-1 has a direct effect on growth. Protection from renal injury and from stroke has also been demonstrated in hypertensive rats treated with endothelin antagonists. In normotensive human subjects endothelin-dependent tone can be shown in the forearm. In a study of mild hypertensive patients, the ETA/B antagonist bosentan reduced blood pressure similarly to an ACE inhibitor. Moderate to severe hypertensive patients presented enhanced expression of ET-1 mRNA in the endothelium of subcutaneous resistance arteries. In blacks with familial hypertension increased plasma levels of endothelin have been found. Thus, ET-1 may play a role in some experimental hypertensive models and in human hypertension. In summary, endothelial ET-1 may be overexpressed in the more severe forms of hypertension, and in certain special populations which may respond particularly well to endothelin antagonism. Endothelin antagonists may prove to be effective disease-modifying agents if in future clinical trials they are shown clinically to blunt vascular growth and endothelial dysfunction, reduce stroke and exert the cardioprotective and renal protective effects already reported in experimental hypertension. These agents could contribute to reduce the long-term complications of hypertension, which remains to be demonstrated in humans.
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PMID:Endothelin: role in hypertension. 983 May 7

Exogenous endothelin-1 (ET-1) is a strong vasoconstrictor in the canine kidney and causes a decrease in renal blood flow (RBF) by stimulating the ETA receptor subtype. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of endogenously generated ET-1 in renal hemodynamics under physiological conditions. In six conscious foxhounds, the time course of the effects of the selective ETA receptor antagonist LU-135252 (10 mg/kg iv) on mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), RBF, and glomerular filtration rate (GFR), as well as its effects on renal autoregulation, were examined. LU-135252 increased RBF by 20% (from 270 +/- 21 to 323 +/- 41 ml/min, P < 0.05) and HR from 76 +/- 5 to 97 +/- 8 beats/min (P < 0. 05), but did not alter MAP, GFR, or autoregulation of RBF and GFR. Since a number of interactions between ET-1 and the renin-angiotensin system have been reported previously, experiments were repeated during angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition by trandolaprilat (2 mg/kg iv). When ETA receptor blockade was combined with ACE inhibition, which by itself had no effects on renal hemodynamics, marked changes were observed: MAP decreased from 91 +/- 4 to 80 +/- 5 mmHg (P < 0.05), HR increased from 85 +/- 5 to 102 +/- 11 beats/min (P < 0.05), and RBF increased from 278 +/- 23 to 412 +/- 45 ml/min (P < 0.05). Despite a pronounced decrease in renal vascular resistance over the entire pressure range investigated (40-100 mmHg), the capacity of the kidneys to autoregulate RBF was not impaired. The GFR remained completely unaffected at all pressure levels. These results demonstrate that endogenously generated ET-1 contributes significantly to renal vascular tone but does not interfere with the mechanisms of renal autoregulation. If ETA receptors are blocked, then the vasoconstrictor effects of ET-1 in the kidney are compensated for to a large extent by an augmented influence of ANG II. Thus ET-1 and ANG II appear to constitute a major interrelated vasoconstrictor system in the control of RBF.
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PMID:Contribution of endothelin to renal vascular tone and autoregulation in the conscious dog. 1007 Jan 65

ACE-I and specific ETA receptor blockade comparably prevented the development of structural cardiovascular alterations such as LVH, myocardial interstitial expansion and wall thickening of intramyocardial and extracardiac arteries in experimental renal failure. However, the decrease in myocardial capillary supply and the concomitant increase in intercapillary distance could only be prevented by ETA receptor antagonism. These capillary changes which have been shown to occur in experimental renal failure as well as in uraemic patients play an important role in the pathogenesis of reduced cardiac ischaemia tolerance in renal failure. The data argue for a potential role of the local renin-angiotensin system as well as of the ET system in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular changes in renal failure and for ET receptor blockade as a new therapeutic option in the treatment of these alterations. In particular, myocardial capillary supply, which is particularly important for ischaemia tolerance in renal failure, seems to be modulated and regulated predominantly by ET-1. In contrast to what was found with respect to structural and functional changes of the kidney in various experimental models of renal damage, a combination therapy--at least in the doses used--does not seem to provide additional benefit in the prevention of cardiovascular changes compared with the respective monotherapies.
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PMID:Treatment of cardiovascular changes in renal failure--ACE inhibition, endothelin receptor blockade or a combination of both strategies? 1046 13

The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) and endothelin system may both play a role in the pathogenesis of progressive renal injury. The aims of the present study were 3-fold: first, to explore the possible benefits of dual blockade of the RAS with an ACE inhibitor and an angiotensin type 1(AT1) receptor antagonist; second, to examine the relative efficacy of endothelin A receptor antagonism (ETA-RA) compared with combined endothelin A/B receptor antagonism (ETA/B-RA); and third, to assess whether interruption of both RAS and endothelin system had any advantages over single-system blockade. Subtotally nephrectomized rats were studied as a model of progressive renal injury and randomly assigned to one of the following treatments for 12 weeks: perindopril (ACE inhibitor), irbesartan (AT1 receptor antagonist), BMS193884 (ETA-RA), bosentan (ETA/B-RA), and a combination of irbesartan with either perindopril or BMS193884. Treatment with irbesartan or perindopril was associated with an improved glomerular filtration rate and reductions in blood pressure, urinary protein excretion, glomerulosclerosis, and tubular injury in association with reduced gene expression of transforming growth factor-beta(1) and matrix protein type IV collagen. The combination of irbesartan with perindopril was associated with further reductions in blood pressure and urinary protein excretion. No beneficial effects of either BMS193884 or bosentan were noted. Furthermore, the addition of BMS193884 to irbesartan did not confer any additional benefits. These findings suggest that the RAS but not the endothelin system is a major mediator of progressive renal injury after renal mass reduction and that the combination of an AT1 receptor antagonist with an ACE inhibitor may have advantages over the single agent of RAS blocker treatment.
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PMID:Blockade of the renin-angiotensin and endothelin systems on progressive renal injury. 1135 55


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