Different Prostanoids Are Involved in Bradykinin-Induced Endothelium-Dependent and -Independent Vasoconstriction in Rat Mesenteric Resistance Arteries

Bradykinin induces vascular contraction after hemorrhagic shock in rats

BACKGROUND

Bradykinin (BK) has many biological effects in inflammation, allergy, and septic shock. Studies have shown that low doses of BK can induce vascular relaxation and high doses can induce vascular contraction in many pathophysiological conditions, but the role and mechanisms that high doses of BK have on vascular contraction in hemorrhagic shock are not clear.

METHODS

With hemorrhagic-shock rats and hypoxia-treated superior mesenteric artery (SMA), we investigated the role and mechanisms of high doses of BK-induced vascular contraction in hemorrhagic shock.

RESULTS

High doses of BK (500-50,000 ng/kg in vivo or 10(-10) to 10(-5) mol/L in vitro) dose dependently induced vascular contraction of SMA and increased the vascular calcium sensitivity in normal and hemorrhagic-shock rats. Less than 10(-10) mol/L of BK induced vascular dilation BK-induced increase of vascular contractile response and calcium sensitivity was reduced by denudation of the endothelium, 18α-glycyrrhetic acid (an inhibitor of myoendothelial gap junction) and connexin 43 antisense oligodeoxynucleotide. Further studies found that high concentrations of BK-induced vascular contraction in hemorrhagic shock was closely related to the activation of Rho A-Rho kinase pathway and Protein Kinase C (PKC) α and ε.

CONCLUSIONS

High doses of BK can induce vascular contraction in hemorrhagic shock condition, which is endothelium and myoendothelial gap junction dependent. Cx43-mediated activation of Rho A-Rho kinase and Protein Kinase C (PKC) pathway plays a very important role in this process. This finding provided a new angle of view to the biological role of BK in other pathophysiological conditions such as hemorrhagic shock or hypoxia.

Pharmacological analysis of the rat femoral artery response to bradykinin

Bradykinin (BK) plays an important role in different physiological processes including the general preservation and modulation of vascular systems. The present study was designed in order to examine the effect of BK on isolated rat femoral artery rings and to investigate the participation of intact endothelium, cyclooxygenase products, Ca²⁺ channels, Na⁺/K⁺–ATPase, and B₂ kinin receptors in BK-induced action. Circular artery segments were placed in organ baths. The endothelium was mechanically removed from some arteries. Concentration–contraction curves for BK were obtained in the rings previously equilibrated at the basal tone. BK produced a concentration–dependent contraction, which was reduced by endothelial denudation. The BK–induced effect was almost completely inhibited by indomethacin (cyclooxygenase inhibitor) or OKY–046 (thromboxane A₂–synthase inhibitor). Nifedipine (Ca²⁺ channel blocker), ouabain (Na⁺/K⁺–ATPase inhibitor), or HOE–140 (selective B₂ kinin receptor antagonist) significantly reduced the BK–evoked effect. In conclusion, it can be proposed that BK produces concentration– and endothelium–dependent contractions of the isolated rat femoral artery, which is for the most part a consequence of B₂ kinin receptor activation. Cyclooxygenase contractile products, especially thromboxane A₂, play a significant role in this course of action. The transduction mechanism involved in the process of BK–induced femoral artery contraction include the activation of voltage–gated Ca²⁺ channels, and in a smaller extent Na⁺/K⁺–ATPase as well.

Thromboxane A(2) contributes to the mediation of flow-induced responses of skeletal muscle venules: role of cyclooxygenases 1 and 2

BACKGROUND

It has been shown that increases in intraluminal flow elicit dilation in venules, but the mediation of response is not yet clarified. We hypothesized that - in addition to nitric oxide (NO) and dilator prostaglandins (PGI(2)/ PGE(2)) - thromboxane A(2) (TxA(2)) contributes to the mediation of flow-induced responses of venules.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Isolated rat gracilis muscle venules (259 +/- 11 microm at 10 mm Hg) dilated as a function of intraluminal flow, which was augmented in the presence of the TxA(2) receptor antagonist SQ 29,548 or the TxA(2) synthase inhibitor ozagrel. In the presence of SQ 29,548, indomethacin or Nomega-nitro-L-arginine methyl-ester decreased flow-induced dilations, whereas in their simultaneous presence dilations were abolished. The selective cyclooxygenase (COX) 1 inhibitor SC 560 reduced, whereas the selective COX-2 inhibitor NS 398 enhanced flow-induced dilations. Immunohistochemistry showed that both COX-1 and COX-2 are present in the wall of venules.

CONCLUSION

In skeletal muscle venules, increases in intraluminal flow elicit production of constrictor TxA(2), in addition to the dilator NO and PGI(2)/PGE(2), with an overall effect of limited dilation. These mediators are likely to have important roles in the multiple feedback regulation of wall shear stress in venules during changes in blood flow velocity and/or viscosity.

Sympathy for the devil: the role of thromboxane in the regulation of vascular tone and blood pressure

Historically, the vasodilatory prostanoids, especially prostacyclin and prostaglandin E(2), are believed to contribute significantly to the regulation of normal vascular tone and blood pressure (BP), primarily by counteracting the prevailing effects of the systemic vasoconstrictor systems, including angiotensin II, the catecholamines, and vasopressin. In contrast, the primary vasoconstrictor prostanoid thromboxane A(2) (TxA(2)) is produced in far smaller quantities in the normal state. While TxA(2) is believed to play a significant role in a variety of cardiovascular diseases, such as myocardial infarction, cerebral vasospasm, hypertension, preeclampsia, and various thrombotic disorders, its role in the regulation of vascular tone and BP in the normal physiological state is, at best, uncertain. Numerous studies have firmly established the dogma that TxA(2), while important in pathophysiological states in males, plays little or no role in the regulation of vascular tone or BP in females, except in the pulmonary vasculature. However, this concept is largely based on the predominant and preferential use of males in animal and human studies. Recent studies from our laboratory and others challenge this dogma and reveal that the TxA(2) pathway in the systemic vascular wall is an estrogen-dependent mechanism that appears to play an important role in the regulation of vascular tone and BP in females, in both normal and pathophysiological states. It is proposed that the potent vasoconstrictor action of TxA(2) is beneficial in the female in the normal state by acting as a local counterregulatory mechanism to increase vascular tone and BP and defend against hypotension that could result from the multiple estrogen-sensitive local vasodilator mechanisms present in the female vascular wall. Validation of this proposal must await further studies at the systemic, tissue, and molecular levels.