Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P01185 (vasopressin)
 23,126 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Purposes of this study were to determine whether: (1) nitric oxide is involved in endothelium-dependent relaxation in helical strips of dog cerebral arteries; (2) relaxing factor distinct from NO is also involved, and (3) susceptibility to NG-nitro-L-arginine (L-NA), an NO synthase inhibitor, of the response to mediators liberating NO from the endothelium and nerve differs. Changes in isometric tension were recorded. In the strips contracted with prostaglandin F2 alpha, substance P and arginine vasopressin produced a relaxation which was abolished or reversed to a contraction by endothelium denudation. The relaxations were not influenced by indomethacin but were suppressed dose-dependently by L-NA, as was the response to nicotine that stimulates the non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic vasodilator nerve and liberates NO. The inhibitions were reversed by L- but not D-arginine. NO (acidified NaNO2)-induced relaxations were not reduced by L-NA. The inhibitory effect was greater in the responses to vasopressin than substance P; however, there was no significant difference in the response to nicotine vs. the peptides. Substance P increased the level of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (GMP) in the artery strips with the intact endothelium, the effect being abolished by endothelium denudation, L-NA and oxyhemoglobin. Relaxations caused by adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and adenosine diphosphate (ADP) were dependent partially on the endothelium. Treatment with L-NA attenuated the ATP-induced relaxation in the strips with endothelium but did not alter the response of denuded strips.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Cerebroarterial relaxations mediated by nitric oxide derived from endothelium and vasodilator nerve. 768 37

The enzyme nitric oxide (NO) synthase is present in the paraventricular nucleus, while nitric oxide has recently been shown to inhibit the stimulated release of corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) in vitro. Thus the possible role of NO in regulating, vasopressin (AVP), which also plays an important role in pituitary-adrenal activity, has been investigated. The effects were studied of the NO donors, L-arginine, syndnonimine-1 (SIN-1) and sodium nitroprusside, on both the basal and stimulated release of AVP, employing a previously validated system. Rat hypothalami were incubated in either medium alone or medium containing the test substances and hormone release was measured by RIA. The effect of L-arginine in the presence of the NO synthase inhibitor, L-NMMA, was also investigated. L-arginine reduced KCl-evoked AVP release; this effect was reversed by L-NMMA and reduced by the addition of ferrous human Hb. Similarly, SIN-1 and sodium nitroprusside attenuated KCl-evoked AVP release. L-arginine also reduced IL-1 beta-stimulated AVP release. NO appears to directly and specifically inhibit the stimulated release of AVP from rat hypothalamic explants in vitro, similar to its effects on CRH. These findings provide further evidence that NO may be involved in neuroendocrine regulation.
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PMID:Nitric oxide modulates the release of vasopressin from rat hypothalamic explants. 768 60

The effects of vasoconstrictors on membrane potential of endothelium of intact rat aorta were investigated using the patch-clamp technique. Norepinephrine, endothelin (ET)-1, 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), vasopressin, and angiotensin II evoked depolarization and oscillations in membrane potential. The alpha 1-adrenoreceptor agonist phenylephrine (PE), but not the alpha 2-agonist clonidine or the beta-agonist isoproterenol, evoked oscillations. The antagonist of 5-HT2-receptors, ketanserin, inhibited 5-HT-evoked oscillations. ET-3, unlike ET-1, did not evoke oscillations. The antagonists of voltage-operated Ca2+ channels, nifedipine and verapamil, inhibited vasoconstrictor-evoked oscillations, and the Ca2+ channel agonist BAY K 8644 enhanced oscillations. Acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside inhibited PE-evoked oscillations. The inhibitors of NO synthase, N omega-nitro-L-arginine and NG-methyl-L-arginine, as well as methylene blue, enhanced oscillations. The intima of rat aorta with endothelium was removed from underlying smooth muscle. In this preparation, acetylcholine evoked a response similar to that in the intact vessel, but PE and ET-1 were without effect. These data suggest that vasoconstrictors acting on receptors on aortic smooth muscle evoke a response that is transferred to the endothelium and evokes depolarization and oscillations in endothelial membrane potential.
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PMID:Smooth muscle cells affect endothelial membrane potential in rat aorta. 806 36

Nitric oxide (NO), which was firstly identified as an endothelium-derived relaxing factor, has recently been demonstrated to be a neurotransmitter in the central and peripheral nervous systems. In the hypothalamus, abundant nitric oxide synthase (NOS) immunoreactivity and its histochemical marker, NADPH-diaphorase activity, have been demonstrated in the hypothalamo-neurohypophyseal system. In the present study, we examined whether NOS is coexpressed with posterior pituitary hormones in the rat hypothalamus by combination of oxytocin and vasopressin immunofluorescence and NADPH-diaphorase histochemistry. Most oxytocin-immunoreactive neurons in the paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei expressed NADPH-diaphorase activity, but virtually no vasopressin-immunoreactive neurons contained NADPH-diaphorase activity. This suggests that oxytocin neurons are the main source of NO production in the hypothalamic-pituitary system.
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PMID:Coexistence of oxytocin and NADPH-diaphorase in magnocellular neurons of the paraventricular and the supraoptic nuclei of the rat hypothalamus. 808 73

Coexistence of NADPH-diaphorase with vasopressin and oxytocin was studied in the magnocellular neurosecretory nuclei of the rat hypothalamus by use of sequential histochemical and immunocytochemical techniques in the same sections. Coexistence was found in all the nuclei examined (supraoptic, paraventricular, circular, fornical, and in some isolated neurons located in the hypothalamic area between the paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei). The ratios of neurons expressing both markers (NADPH-diaphorase and vasopressin, NADPH-diaphorase and oxytocin) in each of the nuclei were very similar. Although further studies must be carried out, the partial coexistence found in all nuclei suggests that NADPH-diaphorase is probably not related to general mechanisms involving vasopressin and oxytocin, but rather in specific functions shared by certain hypothalamic neuronal cell populations.
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PMID:Coexistence of NADPH-diaphorase with vasopressin and oxytocin in the hypothalamic magnocellular neurosecretory nuclei of the rat. 818 64

Endothelium-dependent relaxation of mesenteric resistance arteries of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) and normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats was studied. Acetylcholine-induced relaxation of SHR vessels precontracted with 10 microM norepinephrine was endothelium dependent and attenuated compared with WKY vessels. The impaired response of SHR vessels was normalized by inhibition of cyclooxygenase with indomethacin. Blockade of nitric oxide synthetase with NG-nitro L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) or inhibition of guanylate cyclase with methylene blue attenuated acetylcholine-induced relaxation of norepinephrine-contracted SHR vessels but had no effect on WKY vessels. When vessels were precontracted with 30 nM arginine vasopressin, acetylcholine induced similar degrees of relaxation in both strains. A similar response was detected when lysine vasopressin was used to induce tone. Indomethacin had no effect on relaxation responses of SHR and WKY vessels precontracted with either form of vasopressin. L-NAME and methylene blue partially inhibited acetylcholine-induced relaxation of vasopressin-contracted vessels from both strains. Acetylcholine added at baseline did not induce contraction of vessels from either strain. It is concluded that endothelium-dependent relaxation of SHR resistance arteries is not impaired under all circumstances. Acetylcholine-induced relaxation may be suppressed in SHR resistance arteries when norepinephrine is used to induce contraction as a result of catecholamine-induced production of an endothelium-derived contracting factor. Vasopressin, on the other hand, does not elicit production of this contracting factor and may enhance the vasorelaxant action of acetylcholine in resistance arteries of both strains via actions on endothelial or vascular smooth muscle cells.
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PMID:Endothelium-dependent relaxation of hypertensive resistance arteries is not impaired under all conditions. 841 84

The expression of neurochemical phenotypes was studied in long-term cultures of dissociated embryonic neurons from rat hypothalamus. With time in culture, these neurons establish a complex dendritic and axonal network, as indicated by staining with antibodies against microtubulin-associated protein (MAP2) and neurofilaments (SMI32 and SMI33) as well as GABA and glutamate decarboxylase mRNA immunoreactivity. Neurons expressing neuropeptide Y (NPY) mRNA and NPY peptide and opioid-like peptides as well as vasopressin were observed. Further, weakly acetylcholinesterase- and NADPH diaphorase (nitric-oxide synthase)-labelled neurons were present. In conclusion, the neurochemical phenotypes reported for hypothalamic neurons in vivo can be observed in these cultures. This indicates that the culture conditions allow morphological and molecular differentiation. These findings support the view that long-term hypothalamic cultures provide a valuable model for studying mechanisms of neurosecretion in hypothalamic networks.
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PMID:Characterization of neurochemical phenotypes in cultured hypothalamic neurons with immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization. 851 49

Intact adult male rats fed an alcohol [ethanol (EtOH)] diet for 10 days show blunted adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) release in response to immune signals such as the cytokine interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) and endotoxin [lipopolysaccharide (LPS)], as well as to physical stress (mild electroshocks). The mechanisms responsible for this effect remain poorly understood, but we have recently reported that decreased pituitary responsiveness to vasopressin (VP) might play a role. In naive rats, nitric oxide (NO) exerts a restraining influence on the response of the hypothalamic-pituitary (H-P) axis to cytokines and VP. The ability of long-term EtOH treatment to increase glutamate receptors, and thus NO formation, prompted us to test the hypothesis that abnormally high NO concentrations might modulate the influence of the drug. Blockade of the activity of NO synthase (NOS), the enzyme responsible for NO formation, with the arginine derivative L-N omega nitro-L-arginine-methylester (L-NAME), augmented the ACTH response to IL-1 beta or LPS in both control (C) and EtOH-fed (E) rats. Indeed, after L-NAME treatment, ACTH concentrations were statistically comparable in C and E animals injected with endotoxin or a large dose of IL-1 beta. VP-induced ACTH secretion also became comparable in both experimental groups after blockade of NOS activity. In contrast, the decreased response of the H-P axis of E animals to shocks was only slightly ameliorated, compared with that of C rats. It is therefore possible that changes in the NOergic tone induced by alcohol play a role in the decreased response of the H-P axis to cytokines, possibly in part by altering the stimulatory action of VP on the corticotrophs. On the other hand, in E rats NO seems to exert only a minimal influence on the central nervous system circuits activated by shocks.
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PMID:Adult male rats exposed to an alcohol diet exhibit a blunted adrenocorticotropic hormone response to immune or physical stress: possible role of nitric oxide. 874 13

Experiments were performed to test the hypothesis that renal arteriolar vasoconstrictor responses to angiotensin II (ANG II) are curtailed through a mechanism that involves stimulation of endogenous nitric oxide (NO) synthesis. The in vitro blood-perfused juxtamedullary nephron technique was exploited to monitor arteriolar lumen diameter responses to exogenous ANG II before and during treatment with the NO synthase inhibitor N omega-nitro-L-arginine (L-NNA). Under control conditions, 1 nM ANG II reduced afferent and efferent arteriolar diameters by 13 and 11%, respectively. In the presence of L-NNA, 1 nM ANG II decreased afferent diameter by 26% and efferent diameter by 35%. This augmentation could not be attributed to the L-NNA-induced decrease in baseline diameter. L-NNA also augmented vasopressin responses, indicating a lack of agonist specificity in this interaction. ANG II reactivity during L-NNA treatment was not enhanced when tissue NO activity was fixed at basal levels (exposure to 1 microM sodium nitroprusside). These results indicate that endogenous NO modulates the vasoconstrictive impact of ANG II on both afferent and efferent arterioles of juxtamedullary nephrons and that this process does not require stimulation of NO synthesis.
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PMID:Basal nitric oxide production curtails arteriolar vasoconstrictor responses to ANG II in rat kidney. 877 Jan 68

The enzyme responsible for nitric oxide (NO) formation, NO synthase (NOS), is found in hypothalamic neurons that control ACTH secretion. This led to the hypothesis that brain NO may modulate the response of the hypothalamic-pituitary (HP) axis to various stimuli. We tested this hypothesis by measuring changes in constitutive (c) NOS mRNA levels in the hypothalamus of rats systemically injected with endotoxin, a lipopolysaccharide (LPS) that releases endogenous cytokines, and analyzed these results in the context of the appearance of ACTH-releasing secretagogues such as corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) and vasopressin (VP), as well as CRF receptors type A (CRF-RA). We purposefully chose doses of LPS thought to only minimally disrupt the blood-brain barrier and not be accompanied by an endotoxin shock, so that the results we obtained did not primarily stem from abnormal passage of compounds into the brain, or non-specific stress. Three to four hours following LPS injection (100 micrograms/kg, i.v.), cNOS mRNA levels increased in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus. LPS treatment also upregulated PVN CRF gene transcription (measured by CRF heteronuclear RNA) and increased steady-state gene expression of the immediate early genes (IEG) c-fos and NGFI-B, with the first changes noted 1-2 h after treatment. Transcripts of CRF receptors type A were present in the hypothalamus 6 h after endotoxin treatment. On the other hand, no alterations in cytoplasmic VP mRNA levels were noted in rats injected with LPS. Because the dose of LPS we used stimulates ACTH secretion within 30 min, our results suggest that systemic LPS acts first within the median eminence, where it stimulates peptidic nerve terminals. Neuronal activation of hypothalamic cell bodies takes place later, and whether this phenomenon is due to the production of brain neurotransmitters and/or cytokines, or whether it primarily results from increased demand on the synthetic machinery, remains to be established. These studies extend prior work showing that systemic LPS increases the neuronal activity of hypothalamic regions known for their involvement in the responses of the HP axis, and bring forth two important additional points. First, increases in CRF primary nuclear transcripts are delayed with regard to the temporal release of ACTH. This suggests, though it does not demonstrate, that under the experimental conditions we used, the first site of action of LPS is the median eminence. Second, the observation of increased cNOS gene expression following LPS treatment, and the presence of this enzyme in neurons that regulate ACTH secretion, bring support to the hypothesis that this gas plays an important function in mediating the HP axis response to an immune challenge.
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PMID:Systemic endotoxin increases steady-state gene expression of hypothalamic nitric oxide synthase: comparison with corticotropin-releasing factor and vasopressin gene transcripts. 882 44


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