title: Nitric-oxide-dependent pial arteriolar dilation in the female rat: effects of chronic estrogen depletion and repletion.
abstract: In this study, we compared endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS)-mediated cerebral vasodilating responses in intact female rats, chronically ovariectomized (OVX) rats, and OVX rats treated for 2 weeks with 17beta-estradiol (E(2)). Under anesthesia, using intravital microscopy and a closed cranial window system, pial arteriolar diameter changes were monitored during sequential cortical suffusions of an eNOS-dependent dilator [acetylcholine (ACh)] and a direct NO donor [S-nitrosoacetylpenicillamine (SNAP)]. In separate rats from the same groups, we compared eNOS and caveolin-1 (CAV-1) protein abundance in pial arterioles (via immunofluorescence analyses). In untreated and low-dose E(2)-treated (1.0 microg x kg(-1) x day(-1)) OVX rats, ACh-induced vasodilations were virtually absent. High-dose E(2) treatment (100 microg x kg(-1) x day(-1)) restored ACh-induced pial arteriolar dilations to levels seen in intact females. The vasodilations elicited by SNAP and ADO were unaffected by chronic estrogen changes, indicating no direct estrogen influence on vascular smooth muscle (VSM) reactivity. Pial arteriolar eNOS protein abundance was diminished by ovariectomy and restored by high-dose E(2) treatment. Pial arteriolar CAV-1 expression was higher in OVX versus intact and E(2)-treated OVX females. These results suggest that long-term changes in estrogen directly influence brain eNOS functional activity. The estrogen-related changes in eNOS-dependent vasodilating function appear to be related, in part, to a capacity for E(2) to increase eNOS protein expression and, in part, to an E(2)-associated diminution in endothelial CAV-1 expression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60616, USA.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Pelligrino
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Santizo
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Feinstein
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000109:Acetylcholine / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D001160:Arterioles / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D051242:Caveolin 1; D022461:Caveolins; D004958:Estradiol / Q000494:pharmacology; D004967:Estrogens / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000502:physiology*; D020030:Nitric Oxide Donors / Q000494:pharmacology; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000502:physiology; D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III; D010052:Ovariectomy; D010396:Penicillamine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology; D010841:Pia Mater / Q000098:blood supply; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D014664:Vasodilation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: C495537:Cav1 protein, rat; D051242:Caveolin 1; D022461:Caveolins; D004967:Estrogens; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D020030:Nitric Oxide Donors; C110881:S-nitro-N-acetylpenicillamine; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D004958:Estradiol; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III; C496316:Nos3 protein, rat; D010396:Penicillamine; D000109:Acetylcholine