Cardiovascular hypertrophy and increased vascular contractile responsiveness following repeated cocaine administration in rabbits.
The effects of repeated cocaine administration on contractile responses were studied in adult rabbits. Repeated cocaine exposure caused a significant increase in the maximal response of the aorta to the agonists norepinephrine and serotonin as well as the receptor- independent stimulus KCl when compared to the saline controls. Cocaine exposure caused a significant increase in the wet weights of both heart and aorta. When the contraction was normalized to the wet weight of the aorta there was no difference between rabbits administered cocaine and saline. Acute cocaine administration caused a time-dependent increase in immunoreactivity of the proto-oncogene c-Fos in the aorta. These results show that repeated cocaine administration leads to the development of cardiovascular hypertrophy.
Sutliff
R L
RL
Department of Pharmacology Medical College of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19129, USA.
Cai
G
G
Gurdal
H
H
Snyder
D L
DL
Roberts
J
J
Johnson
M D
MD
D000818:Animals; D001011:Aorta / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology* / Q000502:physiology; D006332:Cardiomegaly / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000503:physiopathology; D003042:Cocaine / Q000633:toxicity*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006984:Hypertrophy; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000187:drug effects*; D009124:Muscle Proteins / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology* / Q000502:physiology; D009200:Myocardial Contraction / Q000187:drug effects*; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis; D011817:Rabbits; D012016:Reference Values
D009124:Muscle Proteins; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos; D003042:Cocaine