the major objective of the present study was to characterize the effects of oxidants generated b xanthine (x) plus xanthine oxidase (xo) on isolated rat ileum motility. the effects of three concentrations of x/xo on the basal tone of the rat ileum preparation were studied for 20 minutes. developed tensions were measured in mg/mg tissues and then expressed as percentage of baseline tension. also...

The purpose of this study was to determine whether superoxide anion is produced endogenously in the rat aortic adventitia and whether sufficient superoxide anion is produced to interfere with the response of the rat aorta to nitric oxide. Relaxation was measured in rings of the rat thoracic aorta, which were oriented so that the adventitial or luminal surface could be preferentially exposed to ...

OBJECTIVE/METHODS Genetic hypertension is associated with an apparent endothelial dysfunction and impaired endothelium-dependent vasodilatation in response to increased flow and receptor-dependent agonists. However, the link between impaired vasodilatation and nitric oxide (NO) synthase expression is still unclear. In the present study, dilator responses were determined in the aorta and coronar...

Superoxide anion generation plays an important role in the development of paraquat toxicity. Although superoxide dismutase mimetics (SODm) have provided protection against organ injury involving generation of superoxide anions, they often suffer problems, e.g., regarding their bioavailability or potential pro-oxidant activity. The aim here was to investigate and compare the therapeutic potentia...

Hyperhomocysteinemia is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Our previous studies demonstrated an important interaction between nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) activation and homocysteine (Hcy)-induced chemokine expression in vascular smooth muscle cells and macrophages. The objective of the present study was to investigate the in vivo effect of hyperhomocysteinemia on NF-k...

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is characterized by high blood pressure and vascular remodelling in pulmonary arteries and subsequently right ventricular hypertrophy. Although several studies in animal models of pulmonary hypertension (PH) and pathological examinations of lung tissue obtained from PAH patients show occlusion of pulmonary arteries, the exact molecular mechanisms for vascul...