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Query: UMLS:C0020538 (hypertension)
 170,190 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Aortic rings from SHR are reported to have a decreased relaxation response to the endothelium-dependent agent acetylcholine compared with rings from WKY rats. Thus, a reduced EDRF (nitric oxide) response could contribute to hypertension. We found that in mesenteric small resistance arteries (200 microns I.D.) taken from 5- to 50-week old rats and mounted in a Mulvany-Halpern myograph, that the concentration-response curves to acetylcholine were similar in range and sensitivity (EC50) in arteries from SHR and WKY rats at the same age. Similarly, in small resistance arteries from human buttock skin, the relaxation to acetylcholine was not different between vessels from normotensive volunteers (mean BP = 95.2 +/- 1.5 mm Hg) and patients with untreated essential hypertension (mean BP = 116.5 +/- 2.5 mm Hg). In rabbits with chronic renovascular hypertension (cellophane renal wrap), acetylcholine and adenosine infusions into the lower abdominal aorta caused falls in hindquarter resistance that were enhanced in range, but with no change in sensitivity compared with normotensive rabbits. In normotensive rabbits, nitric oxide synthase inhibition with N omega-nitro-L-arginine infusion caused a rise in blood pressure, fall in hindquarter conductance and blockade of the acetylcholine responses. These experiments suggest that at the level of resistance arteries in vivo and in vitro, a defect in the receptor-stimulated response to EDRF associated with hypertension could not be detected. Apparently, basal nitric oxide is important in resting vasodilator tone, but its role in chronic hypertension is still unclear.
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PMID:Release of endothelium-derived relaxing factor from resistance arteries in hypertension. 137 18

We have described five phosphodiesterase (PDE) isozymes that can be found in cardiac and vascular smooth muscle of animals and humans. Much of the evidence for the role that these isozymes have in the regulation of cellular processes has been generated through, or awaits, the identification of selective and potent PDE inhibitors. While selective inhibitors of the cGMP-inhibitable (cGi)-PDE isozyme have been approved for use in the acute treatment of heart failure, selective inhibitors of the cGMP-PDE have not been extensively explored as potential candidates for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. More potent selective inhibitors of the cGMP-PDE isozyme are needed to determine whether these pharmacological potentiators of EDRF and ANP will be useful in the therapy of angina, hypertension or heart failure.
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PMID:Cardiovascular cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases and their role in regulating cardiovascular function. 137 94

A review of findings pertaining to EDRF (endothelium derived relaxation factor) which proved to be nitric oxide, NO. After an account of the vasodilatating action of NO in the cardiovascular system the main attention is devoted to macrophages, the source of NO and to the formation of NO during activation of infections and during septic shock. NO participates also in the cytotoxicity of macrophages. NO may be the cause of hypotension in hepatic failure. Cumulation of endogenous inhibitors of NO formation in renal failure may be the cause of hypertension. The author analyzes other clinical effects of NO with regard to impotence and diabetes: NO stimulates insulin secretion from the B-cells of the islets of Langerhans. Attention is also drawn to the possible function of NO in the pituitary, in particular with regard to the arginine test which stimulates STH secretion.
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PMID:[A new agent--nitric oxide]. 148 81

In one third of patients who suffered an infarction NIDDM and arterial hypertension are present. In the absolute majority of patients with IHD, as apparent from the IRI and C-peptide response after a glucose load, hyperinsulinism is present. The blood sugar response can have the character of diabetes or of impaired glucose tolerance, the curve may be very flat or normal while the IRI and C-peptide response are excessive. Hyperinsulinism has a hypersecretory origin as suggested by the concurrently elevated C-peptide level but also reduced insulin utilization in the liver and peripheral target organs. Hyperinsulinism is thus a regular associated phenomenon of IHD and is a special risk factor independent on hyperglycaemia and associates with the other main risk factors of IHD such as arterial hypertension, HPLP (android obesity), hyperglycaemia (NIDDM) and hirsutism as a manifestation of a hyperandrogenic state in the female organism with the syndrome of polycystic ovaries. Hyperinsulinism plays an indirect role in the pathogenesis of coronary syndrome via the main risk factors (5H syndrome--hyperinsulinism, hypertension, HPLP, hyperglycaemia, hirsutism) and also directly by its action on endothelial paracrine mechanism of the coronary circulation where in the early stage vasoconstrictor factors predominate (endothelin-1, PGF2-alpha) over physiological vasodilatating factors (EDRF-NO, PGE2, PGI2) and this leads then to functional spasms. It seems that also the coronary X syndrome develops very frequently on the background of the hormonal metabolic X syndrome or the 5H syndrome.
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PMID:[Hyperinsulinism and the coronary syndrome]. 149 68

Plasma L-arginine concentrations were determined in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY) before and after water immersion stress. There was no difference in the plasma levels of L-arginine before stress loading between SHR and WKY rats. A significant decrease in the L-arginine level was found in the adult SHR rats after the stress stimuli. However, there was no change in plasma levels of L-arginine in the adult WKY rats before and after water immersion stress. In the weanling rats, significant increases were observed in the plasma L-arginine levels after stress loading in both strains. These findings indicate that there may be an impairment of the L-arginine metabolism in the SHR rats with age and that it may involve in the genesis of hypertension in the SHR rat through the L-arginine-EDRF system.
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PMID:Impairment of L-arginine metabolism in spontaneously hypertensive rats. 161 Mar 73

Hypertension and hypercholesterolemia predispose to atherosclerosis. Ramipril, known to lower blood pressure, was used to study the effect of converting-enzyme inhibition on impairment of endothelium-derived relaxation and changes in basal cGMP content in rabbits fed an atherogenic diet (0.25% cholesterol). The generation of cGMP in the presence of bradykinin and ramiprilat was studied in vitro in aortic segments from normal untreated rabbits as well as in bovine endothelial cells. The ability to relax in response to acetylcholine was almost abolished in aortic segments from the vehicle-treated rabbits fed the atherogenic diet for 4 months. The basal cGMP content was substantially reduced. Aortic segments from rabbits concomitantly treated with ramipril (0.3 and 3.0 mg/kg/day) for 3 months showed well-preserved relaxation and matching basal cGMP content compared to normal controls. The relaxation was not significantly greater in aortic segments from ramipril-treated rabbits fed the standard diet, but the cGMP content was more than doubled. In vitro studies in aortic segments and in endothelial cells showed that both the ramiprilat and bradykinin concentrations dependently stimulated cGMP formation, which serves as a biochemical marker of nitric oxide or EDRF release. Thus, the observed endothelial protection against hypercholesterolemia by ramipril may be the result of continuously increased cGMP formation due to preserved EDRF release. This is presumably produced by enhanced bradykinin activity through inhibition of degradation by converting-enzyme inhibition with ramipril.
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PMID:Preservation of endothelial function by ramipril in rabbits on a long-term atherogenic diet. 172 17

EDRF is a potent, endogenous vasodilator that is produced and released from endothelial cells and subsequently causes the relaxation of VSM through the activation of soluble guanylate cyclase and an increase in VSM cyclic GMP. Structurally, EDRF is likely to be NO or a related nitrogen oxide-containing compound. It is synthesized in endothelial and other cell types from L-arginine by a calcium-calmodulin and NADPH-dependent enzyme. Its action is very similar to the nitrovasodilators that act directly on VSM. EDRF is present in all vascular beds, large and small vessels, and in a wide range of species. Its role in human vascular physiology and pathophysiology is just beginning to be understood. EDRF is a potent endogenous vasodilator and inhibitor of platelet aggregation and adhesion. Its activity is impaired in hypertension and atherosclerosis, and its absence due to endothelial damage may play a role in cerebral and coronary vasospasm. It is a mediator of flow-dependent vasodilation, and its inhibition by hypoxia may contribute to the hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstrictor response. Endothelial cell damage and impairment of EDRF production may also contribute to acute and chronic pulmonary hypertension. A further understanding of the chemical nature and synthetic pathways of EDRF should lead to the production of analogs and antagonists, which may play an important role in future treatments for atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, angina, hypertension, and other vascular diseases. The recent realization that EDRF serves as the second messenger for guanylate cyclase activation and cyclic GMP production in a variety of cell types outside of the cardiovascular system, including renal and respiratory epithelium, cerebellar neurons, macrophages, and adrenocytes, suggests even broader implications. The importance of EDRF to the anesthesiologist may go beyond an understanding of its role in cardiovascular physiological and pathophysiological states. Initial studies have shown that the endothelium may play a role in mediating the vascular actions of anesthetics, and that anesthetics can inhibit the production, release, or action of EDRF. How are these interactions mediated? Are there significant differences between anesthetics with regard to their effects on EDRF? Is there a clinically significant effect of anesthetics on basal activity of EDRF, or only in response to exogenous stimulation? Conversely, it is important to determine if alterations in endothelial cell function by various disease states such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, adult respiratory distress syndrome, cerebral vasospasm, and others cause changes in the vascular actions of anesthetics. The potential interactions of anesthetics with EDRF production and action in cell types other than the endothelium have not yet been explored.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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PMID:Endothelium-derived relaxing factor: basic review and clinical implications. 186 89

Key discoveries in the past decade revealed that the endothelium can modulate the tone of underlying vascular smooth muscle by the synthesis/release of potent vasorelaxant (endothelium-derived relaxing factors; EDRF) and vasoconstrictor substances (endothelium-derived contracting factors; EDCF). It has become evident that the synthesis and release of these substances contribute to the multitude of physiological functions the vascular endothelium performs. Accumulating evidence suggests that at least one of the EDRFs is identical with nitric oxide (NO) or a labile nitroso compound, which is produced from L-arginine by an NADPH- and Ca(2+)-dependent enzyme, arginine oxidase. The existence of more than one chemically distinct EDRF has been proposed, including an endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF). The target of EDRF (NO) is soluble guanylate cyclase (increase in cyclic GMP) while EDHF appears to activate a K(+)-channel in vascular smooth muscle. Recent data suggest that muscarinic receptor subtypes selectively mediate the release of EDRF(NO) (M2) and EDHF (M1). EDRF(NO) affects not only the underlying vascular smooth muscle, but also platelets, inhibiting their aggregation and adhesion to the endothelium. The antiaggregatory effect of EDRF is synergistic with prostacyclin, so their combined release may represent a physiological mechanism aimed at preventing thrombus formation. An additional proposed biological function of EDRF(NO) is cytoprotection by virtue of scavenging superoxide radicals. The endothelium can also mediate vasoconstriction by the release of a variety of endothelium-derived contracting factors (EDCF). Other than the unique peptide endothelin, the nature of EDCFs has not yet been firmly established. Autoregulation of cerebral and renal blood flow and hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction may represent the physiological role of endothelium-dependent vasoconstriction. Growing evidence indicates that the endothelium can serve as a unique mechanoreceptor, sensing and transducing physical stimuli (e.g., shear forces, pressure) into changes in vascular tone by the release of EDRFs or EDCFs. In physiological states, a delicate balance exists between endothelium-derived vasodilators and vasoconstrictors. Alterations in this balance can result in local (vasospasm) and generalized (hypertension) increase in vascular tone and also in facilitated thrombus formation. Endothelial dysfunction may also contribute to the pathophysiology of angiopathies associated with hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerosis.
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PMID:Endothelium-derived relaxing and contracting factors. 187 96

ACE inhibition may be useful in several manifestations of ischaemic heart disease, such as heart failure due to ischaemic cardiomyopathy. Recent evidence suggests that these effects may also be present in normotensive patients with ischaemic heart disease without heart failure. Theoretically, converting-enzyme inhibition, through coronary and systemic vasodilating effects and negative inotropic properties, should have a favourable effect on the myocardial oxygen supply/demand ratio and, hence, affect the incidence and severity of myocardial ischaemia. It is doubtful, however, whether these cardiac and extracardiac properties of ACE inhibitors really underlie its potential antiischaemic effects, at least in the average patient with ischaemic heart disease without concomitant heart failure and hypertension. Recent animal and human studies indicate that converting-enzyme inhibitors may modulate myocardial ischaemia by reducing ischaemia-induced circulating neurohumoral activation. It has been shown that, depending on the severity of ischaemia, the circulating renin-angiotensin system may become activated together with an increase in circulating catecholamine levels. ACE inhibition suppresses this neuroendocrine stimulation during ischaemia and modulates subsequent systemic and, presumably, also coronary vasoconstriction. In addition to these effects on circulating neurohormones, ACE inhibition could affect myocardial ischaemia through a number of local actions, e.g. modulation of tissue (cardiac) angiotensin II formation and bradykinin breakdown, stimulation of prostaglandin synthesis and, in the use of sulphydryl compounds, by affecting EDRF formation. Whether ACE inhibitors have clear antiischaemic effects in all clinical conditions is uncertain. Their efficacy to limit exercise-induced ischaemia has been questioned. In contrast, pacing-induced ischaemia in patients at rest is clearly prevented by ACE inhibition. This differential effect may be related to a more pronounced difference in circulating neurohormones during exercise per se. It also suggests that ACE inhibitors may be particularly useful as (additional) antiischaemic therapy in patients with angina at rest, e.g. unstable angina and the acute phase of myocardial infarction.
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PMID:Neurohumoral activation during acute myocardial ischaemia. Effects of ACE inhibition. 197 98

Endothelial cells modulate vascular tone by releasing endothelium-derived relaxing (EDRF) and contracting factors. An imbalance of these factors in hypertension could contribute to increased peripheral vascular resistance. Mesenteric resistance arteries of Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) and stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP) were suspended in a myograph filled with physiological salt solution (37 degrees C; 95% O2-5% CO2). In WKY rings contracted with norepinephrine, acetylcholine (10(-9)-10(-4) M) evoked endothelium-dependent relaxations (88 +/- 2%, IC50 7.3 +/- 0.1; n = 31). Hemoglobin (10(-5) M) but not meclofenamate (10(-5) M) reversed the relaxations delineating EDRF as the mediator. Nitric oxide (3 X 10(-9)-10(-5) M) induced comparable relaxations as acetylcholine. In SHRSP, relaxations to acetylcholine but not those to nitric oxide were impaired (61 +/- 5%, IC50 greater than 6.6 +/- 0.4; n = 24; P less than 0.005). In SHRSP, meclofenamate but not the thromboxane synthetase inhibitor CGS 13080 normalized endothelium-dependent relaxations. Relaxations to sodium nitroprusside were enhanced in SHRSP both in rings with and without endothelium. Thus our results are compatible with the concept that endothelium-dependent relaxations in resistance arteries are mediated by nitric oxide. In SHRSP, endothelium-dependent relaxations are impaired because of a cyclooxygenase-dependent substance interfering with the release and/or action of EDRF.
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PMID:Impaired endothelium-dependent relaxations in hypertensive resistance arteries involve cyclooxygenase pathway. 210 97


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