The effects of physical training on the formation of vasodilating and vasoconstricting compounds, as well as on related proteins important for vascular function, were examined in skeletal muscle of individuals with essential hypertension (n 10). Muscle microdialysis samples were obtained from subjects with hypertension before and after 16 weeks of physical training. Muscle dialysates were analy...

Angiotensin (Ang) peptides play a critical role in regulating vascular reactivity and structure. We showed that Ang-(1-7) reduced smooth muscle growth after vascular injury and attenuated the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). This study investigated the molecular mechanisms of the antiproliferative effects of Ang-(1-7) in cultured rat aortic VSMCs. Ang-(1-7) caused a dose-d...

OBJECTIVE The regulation of pulmonary prostacyclin synthesis is not completely understood. We tested the hypothesis that prostacyclin production is predominantly stimulated by hemodynamic factors, such as increased shear-stress, and is thus increased in rats with chronic hypoxic pulmonary hypertension. METHODS To this end, we determined pulmonary prostacyclin synthase (PGIS) gene expression, ...

We studied whether inhibition of angiotensin converting enzyme stimulates the formation of nitric oxide and prostacyclin in cultured human and bovine endothelial cells by an enhanced accumulation of endothelium-derived bradykinin. Nitric oxide formation was assessed in terms of intracellular cyclic GMP accumulation, prostacyclin release by a specific radioimmunoassay. Inhibition of angiotensin ...

The hypothesis that nitrates evoke prostacyclin production by vascular endothelium has been reevaluated on cultured umbilical vein endothelial cells and in vascular fragments, both obtained from humans. Endothelial cell monolayers (passages 1 and 2) were washed free of culture medium and exposed for 3 to 5 min to buffer or nitroglycerin (NTG), isosorbide dinitrate (ISDN), or isosorbide-5-mononi...

Prostacyclin (PG12) is the most potent endogenous inhibitor of platelet aggregation. Prostacyclin increases platelet cyclic AMP concentration by activating a receptor on the platelet cell membrane. The characteristics of this receptor have been studied in fractured human platelets from normal subjects by measuring specific binding of tritiated prostacyclin (Blair, Hensby & MacDermot, 1981, Jour...

BACKGROUND Although clinical trials of therapeutic angiogenesis by angiogenic growth factors with intramuscular injection of naked plasmid DNA have been successful, there are still unresolved problems such as low transfection efficiency. From this viewpoint, we performed the following modifications: (1) combination with vasodilation using prostacyclin and (2) changing the agents or volume of na...

OBJECTIVE To test the vasodilatory response of the pulmonary vascular bed in children with pulmonary hypertension. DESIGN Prospective dose response study in which the effects of inhaled nitric oxide (NO) are compared with those of oxygen and intravenous prostacyclin. PATIENTS AND INTERVENTIONS The vasodilator test was performed in 20 patients in whom mean pulmonary artery pressure (PAPm) wa...

The recent demonstration that platelets express a functional toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) prompted us to explore the influence of TLR4 polymorphisms (Asp299Gly alone or in combination with Thr399Ile) on thromboxane A2 (TXA2) biosynthesis in vivo. In 17 subjects with TLR4 polymorphisms versus 17 wild type (untreated with aspirin, matched for age, sex, and cardiovascular risk factors), intima-medi...