Down-Regulation of the Expression of Endothelial NO Synthase Is Likely to Contribute to Glucocorticoid-Mediated Hypertension
Hypertension is a side effect of systemically administered glucocorticoids, but the underlying molecular mechanism remains poorly understood. Ingestion of dexamethasone by rats telemetrically instrumented increased blood pressure progressively over 7 days. Plasma concentrations of Na+ and K+ and uri...
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Published in | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 96; no. 23; pp. 13357 - 13362 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
09.11.1999
National Acad Sciences National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Hypertension is a side effect of systemically administered glucocorticoids, but the underlying molecular mechanism remains poorly understood. Ingestion of dexamethasone by rats telemetrically instrumented increased blood pressure progressively over 7 days. Plasma concentrations of Na+ and K+ and urinary Na+ and K+ excretion remained constant, excluding a mineralocorticoid-mediated mechanism. Plasma NO2-/NO3- (the oxidation products of NO) decreased to 40%, and the expression of endothelial NO synthase (NOS III) was found down-regulated in the aorta and several other tissues of glucocorticoid-treated rats. The vasodilator response of resistance arterioles was tested by intravital microscopy in the mouse dorsal skinfold chamber model. Dexamethasone treatment significantly attenuated the relaxation to the endothelium-dependent vasodilator acetylcholine, but not to the endothelium-independent vasodilator S-nitroso-N-acetyl-D,L-penicillamine. Incubation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells, EA.hy 926 cells, or bovine aortic endothelial cells with several glucocorticoids reduced NOS III mRNA and protein expression to 60-70% of control, an effect that was prevented by the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist mifepristone. Glucocorticoids decreased NOS III mRNA stability and reduced the activity of the human NOS III promoter (3.5 kilobases) to ≈ 70% by decreasing the binding activity of the essential transcription factor GATA. The expressional down-regulation of endothelial NOS III may contribute to the hypertension caused by glucocorticoids. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 To whom reprint requests should be addressed at: Department of Pharmacology, Johannes Gutenberg University, Obere Zahlbacher Strasse 67, 55101 Mainz, Germany. E-mail: Ulrich.Forstermann@Uni-Mainz.de. Communicated by Ferid Murad, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX |
ISSN: | 0027-8424 1091-6490 |
DOI: | 10.1073/pnas.96.23.13357 |