title: Reduced expression of heme oxygenase-1 in patients with coronary atherosclerosis.
abstract: Heme oxigenase-1 (HO-1) is known to be an inducible cytoprotective enzyme that copes with oxidative stress. However, changes in HO-1 expression and their association with human diseases have not been studied. To test the hypothesis that the capacity to upregulate HO-1 in response to oxidative stress is an intrinsic marker for susceptibility to coronary atherosclerosis, we assessed stimulation-induced change in HO-1 expression in blood cells in 110 patients who underwent coronary angiography, comparing the results with the extent of coronary atherosclerosis and (GT)(n) repeat polymorphism in the HO-1 gene promoter region, which is believed to affect the gene expression level. The extent of coronary atherosclerosis was assessed by coronary score. Mononuclear cells were incubated with 10 micromol/l hemin or vehicle for 4 h to maximally stimulate HO-1 expression, then the HO-1 expression level was determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The difference between the HO-1 mRNA levels of hemin- and vehicle-treated cells (DeltaHO-1 mRNA) was taken as an index of the capacity to upregulate HO-1 mRNA. The coefficient of variance of DeltaHO-1 mRNA was 7.2%. Consistent with previous studies, DeltaHO-1 mRNA was significantly lower in patients carrying a long (GT)(n) repeat. DeltaHO-1 mRNA negatively and significantly correlated with the coronary score (r(2)=0.50, p<0.01). In conclusion, the capacity to upregulate HO-1 expression may be determined, at least in part, by genetics, and reduced ability to induce HO-1 may be involved in the mechanism of coronary atherosclerosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Molecular Science, Hiroshima University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Hiroshima, Japan.
authors.forename: Andrei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brydun
authors.forename: Yuichiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Watari
authors.forename: Yoshiyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Koichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okuhara
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Teragawa
authors.forename: Fujiko
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kono
authors.forename: Kazuaki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chayama
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oshima
authors.forename: Ryoji
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ozono
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic / Q000502:physiology*; D051547:Heme Oxygenase-1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009000:Monocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D051547:Heme Oxygenase-1