title: Cyclo-oxygenase-2, endothelium and aortic reactivity during deoxycorticosterone acetate salt-induced hypertension.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To test the hypothesis that the enhanced vascular responsiveness to norepinephrine that occurs during deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)-salt induced hypertension is causally related to increased expression of cyclo-oxygenase (COX)-2 and oxidative stress, which diminishes the vasomodulatory influence of endothelium-derived nitric oxide.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four groups of age-matched, male Sprague-Dawley rats were studied: Sham (normotensive); DOCA-salt (hypertensive); DOCA-salt treated with manganese(III) tetra(4-benzoic acid) porphyrin chloride [MnTBAP, an antioxidant; 15 mg/kg intraperitoneally (i.p.) for 21 days]; DOCA-salt treated with {N-[2-(cyclohexyloxy)-4-nitrophenyl]-methane sulfonamide} (NS-398, a COX-2 selective blocker; 5 mg/kg i.p. for 7 days). Contraction and relaxation were measured with FT03 force transducers coupled to a Grass polygraph in aortic rings bathed with physiologic salt solution (37 degrees C) and bubbled with a 5%CO2/95%O2 gas mixture. Aortic sensitivities (pD2 values) to norepinephrine and serum isoprostanes (8-iso-prostaglandin F2alpha, a marker of oxidative stress) were measured for each experimental paradigm.
  
  
  RESULTS
  NS-398 significantly reduced maximal contractions in response to norepinephrine in aortic rings from Sham (44 +/- 3%) and DOCA-salt (96 +/- 2%) group rats. Expression of COX-2 protein increased significantly in vessels from DOCA-salt rats compared with those from Sham group rats. Treatment of DOCA-salt rats with either MnTBAP or NS-398 alleviated hypertension, normalized aortic pD2 values for norepinephrine and restored serum 8-isoprostane concentrations towards those observed in Sham group rats.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  COX-2 expression increases during DOCA-salt hypertension, and mediates production of factors that enhance rat aortic contractility in response to norepinephrine. Our data also suggest a role for increased oxidative stress, which is at least in part dependent on enhanced COX-2 expression, in the mechanism(s) of enhanced aortic contractility in response to norepinephrine during DOCA-salt hypertension.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky 40292, USA. asadea01@louisville.edu
authors.forename: Ayotunde S O
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Adeagbo
authors.forename: Xiaodong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Darshana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Irving G
authors.initials: IG
authors.lastname: Joshua
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xichun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Immaculata N
authors.initials: IN
authors.lastname: Igbo
authors.forename: Mabayoje A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Oriowo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001011:Aorta / Q000201:enzymology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2; D003900:Desoxycorticosterone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000201:enzymology / Q000502:physiology*; D006973:Hypertension / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D007213:Indomethacin / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D009578:Nitrobenzenes / Q000494:pharmacology; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D011451:Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013449:Sulfonamides / Q000494:pharmacology; D014661:Vasoconstriction / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D009578:Nitrobenzenes; D013449:Sulfonamides; C080955:N-(2-cyclohexyloxy-4-nitrophenyl)methanesulfonamide; D003900:Desoxycorticosterone; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2; D011451:Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases; D007213:Indomethacin