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

L-Arginine, the precursor of endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF)/nitric oxide (NO), was administered intravenously in five patients with essential hypertension, one with renovascular hypertension, one with primary aldosteronism, and one with Cushing's syndrome. During the administration, the mean arterial pressure decreased concomitantly with an elevation of cardiac output and a fall in total peripheral resistance in all cases. Indicators of NO release in vivo such as plasma concentrations of L-citrulline and urinary excretion of nitrite/nitrate increased simultaneously during the administration. These results suggest that exogenous L-arginine can produce a vasodilatory effect via stimulating NO release in hypertensives.
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PMID:L-arginine as an antihypertensive agent. 128 68

This study examined the contribution of nitric oxide (NO) to the susceptibility or resistance to the hypertensive effects of high sodium chloride (8.0% NaCl) intake in young Dahl/Rapp salt-sensitive (SS/Jr) and salt-resistant (SR/Jr) rats. Using NG-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA) as a probe for NO production in vivo, we found that increasing dietary sodium chloride increased NO activity in salt-resistant rats, but not in salt-sensitive rats. Exogenous L-arginine, the substrate for NO synthesis, decreased blood pressure to normotensive levels in salt-sensitive rats made hypertensive for 2 wk from 8.0% NaCl chow. D-arginine had no effect on blood pressure of these rats and L-arginine did not change blood pressure of salt-resistant rats. Intraperitoneal injections of L-arginine and its precursor, L-citrulline, and oral L-arginine, but not D-arginine, prevented the increase in blood pressure in salt-sensitive rats on the high salt chow over 2 wk of observation. In contrast, L-arginine did not alter the development of hypertension in spontaneously hypertensive rats. Mean urinary cGMP levels were higher in salt-sensitive rats on oral L-arginine than salt-sensitive rats on D-arginine. Infusion of L-NMMA acutely decreased, whereas intravenous L-arginine rapidly increased, urinary cGMP in both groups. L-arginine and L-citrulline increased production of NO and prevented salt-sensitive hypertension in Dahl/Rapp rats.
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PMID:L-arginine abrogates salt-sensitive hypertension in Dahl/Rapp rats. 165 45

A decrease in endothelium-derived relaxing factor or nitric oxide has been proposed as a potential mechanism of increased vascular resistance in hypertension. An increase in the generation of superoxide anions, which degrade nitric oxide and induce platelet aggregation, may also compromise regional blood flow in hypertension. Recent studies show that human neutrophils generate nitric oxide, which has a similar biologic profile to the endothelium-derived relaxing factor. This study measured nitric oxide synthase activity and superoxide generation in human neutrophils and platelet aggregation in patients with essential hypertension. Nitric oxide synthase activity, measured as conversion of 3H-L-arginine to 3H-L-citrulline, in peripheral blood neutrophils was decreased in hypertensive subjects (percent conversion of 3H-L-arginine: 4.2 +/- 0.5 vs 9.0 +/- 3.0 in control subjects; p < 0.01). Neutrophil superoxide anion generation, measured as conversion of ferricytochrome C to ferrocytochrome C, in response to phorbol-12-myristate 13-acetate (100 ng/ml) was higher in hypertensive subjects (17.5 +/- 8.1 vs 13.2 +/- 3.0 nmoles/10(6) cells/10 minutes in control subjects; p < 0.05). Patients were treated with a selective beta blocker, celiprolol, for 8 weeks. Supine blood pressure decreased from 177/103 mm Hg (mean +/- SD 18/7) to 160/92 mm Hg (mean +/- 10/5; p < 0.02), while heart rate was unchanged (73 +/- 11 vs 69 +/- 10 beats/min). Epinphrine and adenosine diphosphate-induced platelet aggregation was also increased in hypertensive subjects.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Alterations in nitric oxide synthase activity, superoxide anion generation, and platelet aggregation in systemic hypertension, and effects of celiprolol. 752 76

Many obese hypertensive individuals have a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors. This cluster includes plasma nonesterified fatty acid concentrations and turnover rates that are higher and more resistant to suppression by insulin than in lean and obese normotensive individuals. The higher fatty acids may contribute to cardiovascular risk in these patients by inhibiting endothelial cell nitric oxide synthase activity. To test this hypothesis, we quantified the effects of oleic (18:1[cis]) and other 18-carbon fatty acids on nitric oxide synthase activity in cultured bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells by measuring the conversion of [3H]L-arginine to [3H]L-citrulline. Oleic acid (from 10 to 100 mumol/L) caused a concentration-dependent decrease in nitric oxide synthase activity at baseline and during ATP and ionomycin (Ca2+ ionophore) stimulation. At 100 mumol/L, linoleic (18:2[cis]) and oleic acids caused similar reductions of nitric oxide synthase activity, whereas elaidic (18:1[trans]) and stearic (18:0) acids had no effect. Oleic acid also inhibited the endothelium-dependent vasodilator response to acetylcholine in rabbit femoral artery rings preconstricted with phenylephrine (P < .05) but had no effect on the response to nitroprusside. The pattern of 18-carbon fatty acid effects on nitric oxide synthase activity in endothelial cells is consistent with activation of protein kinase C. Although oleic acid increased protein kinase C activity in endothelial cells, neither depletion of protein kinase C by 24-hour pretreatment with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate nor its inhibition with staurosporine eliminated the inhibitory effect of oleic acid on nitric oxide synthase.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Hypertension 1995 Nov
PMID:Oleic acid inhibits endothelial nitric oxide synthase by a protein kinase C-independent mechanism. 759 Oct 16

Constitutively active nitric oxide synthases (NOS) are a unique class of NADPH-dependent, calcium/calmodulin-dependent enzymes that catalyze the conversion of L-arginine to nitric oxide and L-citrulline. However, little is known about the molecular similarities or differences between the two prototypical constitutive NOS enzymes, endothelial NOS (ECNOS) and brain NOS (bNOS). The aims of this study were to begin characterizing the gene structure and tissue distribution of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) for ECNOS and bNOS and to examine the immunological resemblance of the proteins by Western blotting. Full-length complementary DNAs (cDNAs) encoding bovine ECNOS and rat bNOS hybridized, under high stringency, to different-sized fragments of endonuclease-digested bovine, rat, and human genomic DNA. In addition, more than one fragment was detected with both cDNAs, suggesting that ECNOS and bNOS genes contained multiple introns. Tissue distribution of ECNOS mRNA (4.4 kb) and bNOS mRNA (9.5 kb) in the rat was detected by Northern blotting. Patterns among tissue extracts were strikingly different, with ECNOS mRNA being most abundant in aorta, heart, lung, kidney, adrenal gland, spinal cord, and urogenital tissues and bNOS mRNA most prominent in brain regions, intestine, stomach, spinal cord, adrenal gland, and aorta. Interestingly, ECNOS cDNA detected two equally abundant RNA transcripts (4.4 and 4.0 kb) in most brain regions tested, suggesting an alternative splicing of the ECNOS pre-mRNA. Western blotting, using an ECNOS monoclonal antibody, recognized ECNOS protein from native bovine endothelial cells, cultured bovine endothelial cells, and COS cells transfected with ECNOS cDNA but did not recognize purified bNOS.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Hypertension 1993 Jun
PMID:Genomic analysis and expression patterns reveal distinct genes for endothelial and brain nitric oxide synthase. 768 5

Chronic ethanol consumption is associated with an increased prevalence of hypertension. The mechanisms of this form of hypertension are unknown. Rats fed ethanol for 2 days develop a tolerance to the acute vasoconstrictive effects of ethanol that is believed to be endothelium dependent. We investigated the effects of acute and chronic ethanol exposure on agonist-stimulated nitric oxide synthase activity in bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells. Exposure of bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells to ethanol (100 mmol/L) for 20-120 minutes did not change either basal or agonist-stimulated nitric oxide synthase activity measured as the rate of conversion of [3H]L-arginine to [3H]L-citrulline. Chronic exposure of endothelial cells to ethanol (100 mmol/L) for 96 hours significantly increased bradykinin-, adenosine 5'-triphosphate-, and ionomycin-stimulated nitric oxide synthase activity without affecting basal enzyme activity. The ethanol-induced increase in nitric oxide synthase response to agonists was dependent on the duration of ethanol exposure as well as the concentration of ethanol. Moreover, the effect of ethanol was characterized by an increase in the maximal nitric oxide synthase response to adenosine 5'-triphosphate without changes in the EC50. Removal of calcium or addition of N omega-nitro-L-arginine completely abolished agonist-stimulated nitric oxide synthase activity in both control and ethanol-treated cells. Our observations support the hypothesis that ethanol enhances nitric oxide synthase response to agonists during early ethanol exposure and may serve in a protective role against its hypertensive effect.
Hypertension 1993 Jun
PMID:Ethanol enhances the endothelial nitric oxide synthase response to agonists. 768 6

To investigate whether changes in renal blood flow induced by nondepressor doses of L-arginine, the precursor of nitric oxide, are mediated by a sympathetic neural mechanism, we examined the following in conscious rabbits: (1) the effects of intravenous infusion of L- or D-arginine (15 to 200 mumol/kg per minute) on renal blood flow and renal sympathetic nerve activity with or without intravenous infusion of a nonpressor dose of NG-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA), a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, and (2) the effects of L-arginine on renal blood flow after renal denervation with or without L-NMMA pretreatment. In renal innervated rabbits, L-arginine (100 and 200 mumol/kg per minute) increased renal blood flow by 9 +/- 2 and 16 +/- 3 mL/min (P < .05, respectively) and decreased renal sympathetic nerve activity by 12 +/- 4% and 19 +/- 3% of control (P < .05, respectively). In contrast, no changes occurred in any variable during D-arginine infusion. L-NMMA attenuated the renal blood flow and renal sympathetic nerve activity responses to L-arginine (P < .05). In renal denervated rabbits, L-NMMA also attenuated the renal blood flow responses to L-arginine (P < .05) and abolished them (P < .05) compared with those in renal innervated rabbits. All renal blood flow responses to L-arginine were accompanied by parallel changes in plasma L-citrulline concentration.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Hypertension 1994 Aug
PMID:Nitric oxide increases renal blood flow by interacting with the sympathetic nervous system. 803 47

During the last decade, a multitude of experimental arguments have led to the concept that EDRF is nitric oxide (NO), a messenger not only involved in the control of vasomotor tone but also in vascular homeostasis, neuronal and immunological functions. Regardless of its origin, endogenous NO is produced through the conversion of L-arginine to L-citrulline by NO-synthase (NOS) from which several isoforms have recently been isolated, purified and cloned. NOS-type I (isolated from brain) and type III (isolated from endothelial cells) are termed "constitutive-NOS" and produce picomolar levels of NO from which only a small fraction elicits physiological responses. These isoforms are regulated by Ca(2+)-calmodulin with NADPH, FAD/FMN and tetrahydrobiopterin as co-factors and reveal a high degree of homology with the amino-acid sequence of cytochrome P450 reductase within the C-terminal domain. Functionally, neuronal-NOS type I is important in neurotransmission (modulation of NMDA receptor), the central control of vascular homeostasis and possibly learning and memory. In the peripheral nervous system, NOS appears to be linked to nonadrenergic noncholinergic (NANC) neuronal pathways. Endothelial-NOS type III is essential for the control of vascular tone in response to the release of endogenous mediators, although shear stress is the major trigger of endothelial-NOS activity under physiological conditions. NOS-type III also contributes to the prevention of abnormal platelet aggregation. NOS-types II and IV (isolated from macrophages) are Ca(2+)-calmodulin independent and are termed "inducible-NOS" since their activation is only promoted under pathophysiological situations where macrophages exert cytotoxic effects in response to cytokines. In contrast with NOS-types I and III, activation of NOS-type II in these cells induces the formation of nanomolar levels of NO which act as a defense mechanism of the immune system. Dysfunctions of the L-arginine-NO pathway have been characterized in multiple diseases (atherosclerosis, hypertension, diabetes, sepsis, cerebral ischemia, etc) and the design of more selective activators/inhibitors of NOS isoforms is a new challenge for the understanding of their pathophysiology and treatment.
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PMID:Nitric oxide: an ubiquitous messenger. 829 80

Ten years ago, the term "oxidative stress" (sigma -O2) was created to define oxidative damage inflicted to the organism. This definition brings together processes involving reactive oxygen species production and action such as free radical production during univalent reduction of oxygen within mitochondria, activation of NADPH-dependent oxidase system on the membrane surface of neutrophils, flavoprotein-catalyzed redox cycling of xenobiotics and exposure to chemical and physical agents in the environment. Since the discovery of the nitric oxide biosynthetic pathway, the deleterious effects of uncontrolled nitric oxide generation are generally classified as oxidative stress. Indeed, products of the reaction of NO and superoxide lead to oxidants such as peroxinitrite, nitrogen dioxide and hydroxyl radical, which are involved in mechanisms of cell-mediated immune reactions and defence of the intracellular environment against microbiol invasion. However NO can also regulate many biological reactions and signal transduction pathways that lead to a variety of physiological responses such as blood pressure, neurotransmission, platelet aggregation, endothelin generation or smooth muscle cell proliferation. Then the uncontrolled NO production can lead to a variety of physiological and pathophysiological responses similar to a Nitric Oxide Stress: activation of guanylate cyclase and production of cGMP: overstimulation of the inducible L-arginine to L-citrulline and NO pathway by bactericidal endotoxins and cytokines has been shown to promote undesired increases in vasodilatation, which may account for hypotension in septic shock and cytokine therapy. stimulation of auto-ADP-ribosylation and modification of SH-groups of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase in a cGMP-independent mechanism: by this way, NO in excess can strongly inhibits this important glycolytic enzyme and reduce the cellular energy production. inhibition of ribonucleotide reductase: extensive inhibition of this key enzyme in DNA synthesis in the presence of large amounts of NO could lead to important antiproliferative effects; inhibition of cytochrome P450-dependent metabolism: in Kupffer cells and hepatocytes, LPS-induced overproduction of NO has been shown to inhibit cytochrome P450-dependent metabolism and to mediate the suppression of hepatic metabolism. Moreover, NO synthetized in the peripheral nervous system is known to mediate nonadrenergic noncholinergic (NANC) neurotransmission. Overstimulation of NO synthases might therefore contribute to pathophysiological states such as: gastrointestinal motility, reflux oesophagitis, asthma, adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and chronic pulmonary artery hypertension. To these NO-mediated biological functions, one could add the biological effects of NO-derivatives such as N-nitrosocompounds, which act as carcinogenic agents, or C-nitrosocompound which were recently used as "zinc-ejecting" agents to inhibit HIV-1 infectivity of human T-lymphocytes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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PMID:[Does nitric oxide stress exist?]. 852 Oct 87

Carbenoxolone causes hypertension indirectly by inhibition of 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and consequent elevation of intracellular glucocorticoid levels and enhancement of vasoconstrictor action. We performed the present study to determine whether carbenoxolone also enhances vascular tone directly by mechanisms independent of glucocorticoids and other systemic influences. Exposure of rat aortic rings to 10 to 100 micromol/L carbenoxolone in aerated Krebs-Henseleit buffer for 24 hours resulted in concentration-dependent increases in angiotensin II (Ang II) (100 nmol/L)-stimulated contractions and significant shifting of the phenylephrine cumulative contraction curve to the left but not increases in KCI (120 mmol/L)-stimulated contractions. Maximal enhancement of Ang II contraction was 39 percent. In contrast, brief (15-minute) exposure to 100 micromol/L carbenoxolone did not alter Ang II contractions. Mechanical denudation of the endothelium obviated enhancement of Ang II contractions by carbenoxolone, suggesting interaction of carbenoxolone with the endothelium. Endothelium-dependent relaxation of precontracted rings to acetylcholine or ATP was reduced by more than 90 percent by 24-hour pretreatment with 100 micromol/L carbenoxolone but not with 100 micromol/L deoxycorticosterone acetate (a mineralocorticoid) or 100 mu mol/L glycyrrhizic acid (a natural 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase inhibitor). Vascular smooth muscle relaxation with sodium nitroprusside was not inhibited by carbenoxolone. Incubation of cultured endothelial cells with 100 mu mol/L carbenoxolone for 24 hours did not inhibit nitric oxide synthase activity, as measured by conversion of [3H]L-arginine to [3H]L-citrulline. Electron micrography demonstrated that endothelial cell ultrastructure but not vascular smooth muscle cell ultrastructure was abnormal after incubation of rings for 24 hours with 100 micromol/L carbenoxolone. These studies suggest that carbenoxolone concentrations higher than 10 micromol/L enhance vasoconstrictor action via selective toxicity to the endothelium and elimination of endothelium-dependent relaxation.
Hypertension 1996 Jun
PMID:Carbenoxolone damages endothelium and enhances vasoconstrictor action in aortic rings. 864 47


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