Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0020440 (hypercapnia)
 7,939 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an endogenously produced gas sharing many properties with nitric oxide (NO), notably activating soluble guanylate cyclase and relaxing blood vessels. The brain can generate high quantities of CO from a constitutive enzyme, haem oxygenase (HO-2). To determine whether CO is involved in the regulatory mechanisms of cerebral blood flow (CBF), two conditions associated with a reproducible CBF increase were studied in rats: epileptic seizures induced by kainate, and hypercapnia. The HO inhibitor tin protoporphyrin (Sn-PP) did not modify the basal level of CBF, significantly reduced the increase in CBF during status epilepticus, and did not affect the cerebrovascular response to hypercapnia. It is concluded that CO participates in the regulation of CBF in specific conditions, notably those associated with glutamate release.
 ...
PMID:Carbon monoxide regulates cerebral blood flow in epileptic seizures but not in hypercapnia. 969 25

In newborn pigs, the mechanism of seizure-induced cerebral hyperemia involves carbon monoxide (CO), the vasodilator product of heme catabolism by heme oxygenase (HO). We hypothesized that seizures cause cerebral vascular dysfunction when HO activity is inhibited. With the use of cranial window techniques, we examined cerebral vascular responses to endothelium-dependent (hypercapnia and bradykinin) and endothelium-independent (isoproterenol and sodium nitroprusside) dilators during the recovery from bicuculline-induced seizures in saline controls and in animals pretreated with a HO inhibitor, tin protoporphyrin (SnPP). SnPP (3 mg/kg iv) blocked dilation to heme and reduced the CO level in cortical periarachnoid cerebrospinal fluid, indicating HO inhibition in the cerebral microcirculation. In saline control piglets, seizures increased the CO level, which correlated with the time-dependent cerebral vasodilation; during the recovery (2 h after seizure induction), responses to all vasodilators were preserved. In SnPP-treated animals, cerebral vasodilation and the CO responses to seizures were greatly reduced, and cerebral vascular reactivity was severely impaired during the recovery. These findings suggest that HO in the cerebral microcirculation is rapidly activated during seizures and provides endogenous protection against seizure-induced vascular injury.
 ...
PMID:Endogenous heme oxygenase prevents impairment of cerebral vascular functions caused by seizures. 1291 92

The extended postictal state is characterized by neurological problems in patients. Inadequate blood supply to the brain and impaired cerebral autoregulation may contribute to seizure-induced neuronal damage. Recent evidence in newborn pigs indicates that activation of the antioxidative enzyme heme oxygenase (HO) at the onset of seizures is necessary for increased cerebral blood flow during the ictal episode and for normal cerebral vascular functioning during the immediate postictal period. We hypothesized that seizures cause prolonged postictal cerebral vascular dysfunction that can be accentuated by HO inhibition and rescued by HO overexpression. Cerebral vascular responses to endothelium-dependent (hypercapnia, bradykinin) and -independent (isoproterenol, sodium nitroprusside) stimuli were assessed 48 h after bicuculline-induced seizures in: 1) saline-control newborn piglets, 2) HO-inhibited animals (HO was inhibited by tin protoporphyrin, SnPP, 3 mg/kg iv), and 3) HO-overexpressing piglets (HO-1 was upregulated by cobalt protoporphyrin, CoPP, 50 mg/kg ip). Extended alterations of HO expression in cerebral microvessels were confirmed by measuring CO production and inducible HO (HO-1) and constitutive HO (HO-2) proteins. Our data provide evidence that seizures cause a severe, sustained, postictal cerebral vascular dysfunction as reflected by impaired vascular reactivity to physiologically relevant dilators. During the delayed postictal state, vascular reactivity to all dilator stimuli was reduced in saline control and, to a greater extent, in HO-inhibited animals. In CoPP-treated piglets, no reduction in postictal cerebral vascular reactivity was observed. These findings may indicate that CoPP prevents postictal cerebral vascular dysfunction by upregulating HO-1, a finding that might have implications for preventing postictal neurological complications.
 ...
PMID:Epileptic seizures cause extended postictal cerebral vascular dysfunction that is prevented by HO-1 overexpression. 1568 2

Neonatal asphyxia leads to cerebrovascular disease and neurological complications via a mechanism that may involve oxidative stress. Carbon monoxide (CO) is an antioxidant messenger produced via a heme oxygenase (HO)-catalyzed reaction. Cortical astrocytes are the major cells in the brain that express constitutive HO-2 isoform. We tested the hypothesis that CO, produced by astrocytes, has cerebroprotective properties during neonatal asphyxia. We developed a survival model of prolonged asphyxia in newborn pigs that combines insults of severe hypoxia, hypercapnia, and acidosis while avoiding extreme hypotension and cerebral blood flow reduction. During the 60-min asphyxia, CO production by brain and astrocytes was continuously elevated. Excessive formation of reactive oxygen species during asphyxia/reventilation was potentiated by the HO inhibitor tin protoporphyrin, suggesting that endogenous CO has antioxidant effects. Cerebral vascular outcomes tested 24 and 48 h after asphyxia demonstrated the sustained impairment of cerebral vascular responses to astrocyte- and endothelium-specific vasodilators. Postasphyxia cerebral vascular dysfunction was aggravated in newborn pigs pretreated with tin protoporphyrin to inhibit brain HO/CO. The CO donor CO-releasing molecule-A1 (CORM-A1) reduced brain oxidative stress during asphyxia/reventilation and prevented postasphyxia cerebrovascular dysfunction. The antioxidant and antiapoptotic effects of HO/CO and CORM-A1 were confirmed in primary cultures of astrocytes from the neonatal pig brain exposed to glutamate excitotoxicity. Overall, prolonged neonatal asphyxia leads to neurovascular injury via an oxidative stress-mediated mechanism that is counteracted by an astrocyte-based constitutive antioxidant HO/CO system. We propose that gaseous CO or CO donors can be used as novel approaches for prevention of neonatal brain injury caused by prolonged asphyxia. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Asphyxia in newborn infants may lead to lifelong neurological disabilities. Using the model of prolonged asphyxia in newborn piglets, we propose novel antioxidant therapy based on systemic administration of low doses of a carbon monoxide donor that prevent loss of cerebral blood flow regulation and may improve the neurological outcome of asphyxia.
 ...
PMID:Astrocyte-produced carbon monoxide and the carbon monoxide donor CORM-A1 protect against cerebrovascular dysfunction caused by prolonged neonatal asphyxia. 3002 98