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Acta Physiologica 2012; Volume 206, Supplement 693
Joint FEPS and Spanish Physiological Society Scientific Congress 2012
9/8/2012-9/11/2012
Santiago de Compostela, Spain
THE EFFECT OF AGEING ON ENDOTHELIAL FUNCTION AND NITRIC OXIDE BIOAVAILABILITY IN RATS
Abstract number: P58
Puzserova1 A, Ilovska2 V, Balis1 P, Slezak1 P, Sestakova1 N, Bernatova1 I
1Slovak Academy of Sciences, Institute of Normal and Pathological Physiology, Centre of Excellence for Examination of Regulatory Role of Nitric Oxide in Civilization Diseases,
2Comenius University, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics
Objectives:
Endothelium produces a variety of factors, which affect vascular function and thus blood pressure. Besides well known endothelium-derived relaxing factors (EDRFs) increasing number of studies have shown an important role of endothelium-derived constricting factors (EDCFs), especially when endothelial function is investigated using acetylcholine (ACh) test. In this work we studied endothelium-dependent relaxation and constriction in young (7-week) and adult (22-week) spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) as compared to age-matched normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats.
Materials:
Blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) were measured by tail-cuff. Vascular studies were conducted by wire myograph in the femoral artery (FA) to investigate vasoconstriction induced by noradrenaline (NA), endothelium-dependent relaxation induced by ACh as well as its nitric oxide (NO)-dependent and -independent components.
Results:
In the SHR, we found significant increase of BP and HR, left ventricular hypertrophy, significant reduction of internal diameter as well as reduced ACh-induced relaxation of the FA in both groups vs. age-matched WKY. The extent of endothelial dysfunction (ED) was similar in both young and adult SHR. Interestingly, ED in SHR was associated with reduced NO-independent component while NO-dependent component of vasorelaxation was similar to age-matched WKY. However, in both WKY and SHR NO-dependent relaxation was reduced in adult rats vs. young. ACh at higher concentrations caused endothelium-dependent contractions in both SHR groups but not in WKY. Additionally, age-related increase of NA-induced constriction was observed in both SHR and WKY.
Conclusions:
Our results showed age-related reduction in NO bioavailability in both WKY and SHR rats. However, ED of SHR rats did not result from reduced NO bioavailability. Results suggest significant reduction of other EDRFs as well as increased release of EDCFs and contractility in both young and adult SHR. Supported by the VEGA 2 /0084/10 and APVV-0523-10.
To cite this abstract, please use the following information:
Acta Physiologica 2012; Volume 206, Supplement 693 :P58