Imidazoline and alpha(2a)-adrenoceptor binding sites in postmenopausal women before and after estrogen replacement therapy

Ovariectomy Induces Microglial Cell Activation and Inflammatory Response in Rat Prefrontal Cortices to Accelerate the Chronic Unpredictable Stress-Mediated Anxiety and Depression

Perimenopausal women are associated with increased risks of depression and anxiety, which may be potentially related to the lack of ovarian hormone with antidepression activity in the body. However, the precise mechanism remains unclear so far. This study first adopted the Sprague-Dawley (SD) female rats to construct the ovariectomy (OVX) combined with a chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) model. Then, a series of behavioral experimental results revealed that the ovariectomized rats receiving CUS had remarkably elevated anxiety and depression behaviors relative to those in sham group rats, and the sucrose preference rate in the sucrose preference test (SPT) was evidently reduced. In elevated plus maze test (EPM) experiment, the open arm entry time and open arm duration were decreased. In the open field test (OFT), the number of line crossings, rearing number, center square entries, and center square duration were reduced; the grooming time was extended; and the number of fecal particles in rats was increased. In the forced swimming test (FST), the rat immobility rate was increased, while the numbers of swimming and crawling were decreased. Afterwards, we discovered that OVX downregulated the serum levels of estradiol and corticosterone in rats. Thereafter, IF results suggested that OVX dramatically induced the increasing of the number of activated microglial cells in prefrontal cortices and the level of M1-type marker iNOS. Finally, PCR results demonstrated that, compared with the sham group, the proinflammatory and prooxidative genes, such as IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, iNOS, and CX3CR1, were upregulated in the prefrontal cortices of OVX rats after CUS stimulation, whereas the anti-inflammatory factor Arg1 and microglial cell negative regulatory factor CD200 were downregulated. To sum up, OVX enhances the CUS-mediated anxiety and depression phenomena in rats, and its mechanism may be related to inducing the activation and polarization of microglial cells in the prefrontal cortex of animal and to accelerating the inflammatory response.

Regional differences in sexually dimorphic protein expression in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR)

Hypertension is sexually dimorphic and modified by removal of endogenous sex steroids. This study tested the hypothesis that endogenous gonadal hormones exert differential effects on protein expression in the kidney and mesentery of SHR. At ~5 weeks of age male and female SHR underwent sham operation, orchidectomy, or ovariectomy (OVX). At 20-23 weeks of age, mean arterial pressure (MAP) was measured in conscious rats. The mesenteric arterial tree and kidneys were collected, processed for Western blots, and probed for Cu Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1), soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH), and Alpha 2A adrenergic receptor (A2AR) expression. MAP was unaffected by ovariectomy (Sham 164 ± 4: Ovariecttomy 159 ± 3 mm Hg). MAP was reduced by orchidectomy (Sham 189 ± 5:Orchidectomy 167 ± 2 mm Hg). In mesenteric artery, SOD1 expression was greater in male versus female SHR. Orchidectomy increased while ovariectomy decreased SOD1 expression. The kidney exhibited a different pattern of response. SOD1 expression was reduced in male compared to female SHR but gonadectomy had no effect. sEH expression was not significantly different among the groups in mesenteric artery. In kidney, sEH expression was greater in males compared to females. Ovariectomy but not orchidectomy increased sEH expression. A2AR expression was greater in female than male SHR in mesentery artery and kidney. Gonadectomy had no effect in either tissue. We conclude that sexually dimorphic hypertension is associated with regionally specific changes in expression of three key proteins involved in blood pressure control. These data suggest that broad spectrum inhibition or stimulation of these systems may not be the best approach for hypertension treatment. Instead regionally targeted manipulation of these systems should be investigated.

Chronic ethanol attenuates centrally-mediated hypotension elicited via alpha(2)-adrenergic, but not I(1)-imidazoline, receptor activation in female rats

AIMS

This study dealt with the effect of chronic ethanol administration on hemodynamic responses elicited by alpha(2)-adrenergic (alpha-methyldopa) or I(1)-imidazoline (rilmenidine) receptor activation in telemetered female rats.

MAIN METHODS

The effects of alpha-methyldopa or rilmenidine on blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR) and their variability were investigated in rats that received liquid diet without or with ethanol (5% w/v) for 12 weeks. To evaluate the effect of each drug on cardiovascular autonomic control (BP and HR variability) in the absence or presence of ethanol, three time-domain indices of hemodynamic variability were measured: (i) standard deviation of mean arterial pressure (SDMAP), (ii) standard deviation of beat-to-beat intervals, and (iii) root mean square of successive differences in R-R intervals.

KEY FINDINGS

In liquid diet-fed control rats, i.p. rilmenidine (600 microg/kg) or alpha-methyldopa (100 mg/kg) reduced BP along with decreases and increases, respectively, in HR. Both drugs had no effect on HR variability but reduced BP variability (SDMAP), suggesting a reduced vasomotor sympathetic tone. Ethanol feeding attenuated reductions in BP and SDMAP evoked by alpha-methyldopa but not by rilmenidine.

SIGNIFICANCE

We conclude that chronic ethanol preferentially compromises alpha(2)- but not I(1)-receptor-mediated hypotension in female rats probably via modulation of vasomotor sympathetic activity. These findings highlight the adequacy of rilmenidine use to lower BP in hypertensive alcoholic females.

In vivo evaluation of alpha(2)-adrenoceptors in cats with idiopathic cystitis

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the in vivo response of alpha(2)-adrenoceptors to medetomidine administration in cats with feline idiopathic cystitis (FIC) during periods of stress and after environmental enrichment.

ANIMALS

13 cats with FIC and 12 healthy cats. Procedures-Cats were subjected to an acute-onset moderate stressor for 8 days. After stress, 20 microg of medetomidine/kg was administered IM on days 1, 3, and 8. Heart rate, blood pressure, pupil diameter, respiratory rate, and level of sedation were evaluated before and after administration of the drug. After day 8, cats were moved to an enriched environment, and tests were repeated on day 35.

RESULTS

Heart rate decreased and pupil diameter increased significantly after medetomidine administration in healthy cats, compared with cats with FIC. Cats with FIC had significantly lower respiratory rates. No significant differences in blood pressure or sedation level were found.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Increased plasma catecholamine concentrations during the enrichment phase, which have been reported elsewhere, may have contributed to the differences in alpha(2)-adrenoceptor responses detected in cats with FIC.

Augmentation of moxonidine-induced increase in ANP release by atrial hypertrophy

Imidazoline receptors are divided into I1 and I2 subtypes. I1-imidazoline receptors are distributed in the heart and are upregulated during hypertension or heart failure. The aim of this study was to define the possible role of I1-imidazoline receptors in the regulation of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) release in hypertrophied atria. Experiments were performed on isolated, perfused, hypertrophied atria from remnant-kidney hypertensive rats. The relatively selective I1-imidazoline receptor agonist moxonidine caused a decrease in pulse pressure. Moxonidine (3, 10, and 30 μmol/l) also caused dose-dependent increases in ANP secretion, but clonidine (an α2-adrenoceptor agonist) did not. Pretreatment with efaroxan (a selective I1-imidazoline receptor antagonist) or rauwolscine (a selective α2-adrenoceptor antagonist) inhibited the moxonidine-induced increases in ANP secretion and interstitial ANP concentration and decrease in pulse pressure. However, the antagonistic effect of efaroxan on moxonidine-induced ANP secretion was greater than that of rauwolscine. Neither efaroxan nor rauwolscine alone has any significant effects on ANP secretion and pulse pressure. In hypertrophied atria, the moxonidine-induced increase in ANP secretion and decrease in pulse pressure were markedly augmented compared with nonhypertrophied atria, and the relative change in ANP secretion by moxonidine was positively correlated to atrial hypertrophy. The accentuation by moxonidine of ANP secretion was attenuated by efaroxan but not by rauwolscine. These results show that moxonidine increases ANP release through (preferentially) the activation of atrial I1-imidazoline receptors and also via different mechanisms from clonidine, and this effect is augmented in hypertrophied atria. Therefore, we suggest that cardiac I1-imidazoline receptors play an important role in the regulation of blood pressure.

Effects of Long-Term Ovariectomy and Estrogen Replacement on Clonidine-Evoked Reductions in Blood Pressure and Hemodynamic Variability

The present study investigated the influence of 12-week ovariectomy (OVX) and estrogen supplementation (OVXE2) on the acute effects of the centrally acting antihypertensive agent clonidine on blood pressure, hemodynamic variability, and locomotor activity in Sprague-Dawley rats. The effects of estrogen depletion and repletion on the peripherally mediated hypotensive response to hydralazine were also evaluated to determine the selectivity of estrogen-clonidine interaction. The radiotelemetry technique was used for blood pressure and locomotor activity measurements. Three time-domain indices of hemodynamic variability were employed: (1). the standard deviation of mean arterial pressure (SDMAP) as a measure of blood pressure variability, and (2). the standard deviation of R-R intervals (SDRR) and the root mean square of successive differences in R-R intervals (rMSSD) as measures of heart rate variability. In control (sham-operated) rats, clonidine (30 microg/kg, i.p.) elicited significant decreases in MAP, blood pressure variability (SDMAP), and overall heart rate variability (SDRR). The reductions in MAP and its variability index (SDMAP) were significantly augmented in OVX rats and restored to sham-operated levels after estrogen replacement (17beta-estradiol subcutaneous pellet, 14.2 microg/d, 12 weeks). The locomotor activity was reduced by clonidine only in OVX rats. In contrast to clonidine, hydralazine (0.5 mg/kg, i.p.) hypotension was not altered by OVX or estrogen replacement. These findings suggest that estrogen negatively modulates centrally evoked hypotension versus no effect on hypotension of peripheral origin. Further, the results implicate the cardiovascular autonomic control in the enhanced hypotensive response to clonidine in OVX rats.

Imidazoline receptors in the heart: characterization, distribution, and regulation

Imidazoline receptors were identified in cardiac tissues of various species. Imidazoline receptors were immunolocalized in the rat heart. Membrane binding and autoradiography on frozen heart sections using 0.5 nM para-iodoclonidine (125I-PIC) revealed that binding was equally and concentration-dependently inhibited by epinephrine and imidazole-4-acetic acid (IAA), implying 125I-PIC binding to cardiac alpha2-adrenergic and I1-receptors, respectively. After irreversible blockade of alpha2-adrenergic receptors, binding was inhibited by the selective I1-agonist, moxonidine, and the I1-antagonist, efaroxan, in a concentration-dependent (10-12 to 10-5 M) manner. Calculation of kinetic parameters revealed that in canine left and right atria, I1-receptor Bmax was 13.4 +/- 1.7 and 20.1 +/- 3.0 fmol/mg protein, respectively. Compared to age-matched normotensive Wistar Kyoto rats, I1-receptors were increased in 12-week-old hypertensive rat (SHR) right (22.6 +/- 0.3 to 43.7 +/- 4.4 fmol/unit area, p < 0.01) and left atria (13.3 +/- 0.6 to 30.2 +/- 4.1 fmol/unit area, p < 0.01). Also, compared to corresponding normal controls, Bmax was increased in hearts of hamsters with advanced cardiomyopathy (13.9 +/- 0.4 to. 26.0 +/- 2.3 fmol/unit area, p < 0.01) and in human ventricles with heart failure (12.6 +/- 1.3 to 35.5 +/- 2.9 fmol/mg protein, p < 0.003). These studies demonstrate that the heart possesses imidazoline I1-receptors that are up-regulated in the presence of hypertension or heart failure, which would suggest their involvement in cardiovascular regulation.