Elevated serum uric acid concentration is a common laboratory finding in subjects with metabolic syndrome/obesity, hypertension, kidney disease and cardiovascular events. Hyperuricemia has been attributed to hyperinsulinemia in metabolic syndrome and to decreased uric acid excretion in kidney dysfunction and is not acknowledged as a main mediator of metabolic syndrome, renal disease, and cardiovascular disorder development. However, more recent investigations have altered this traditional view and shown by providing compelling evidence to support an independent link between hyperuricemia and increased risk of metabolic syndrome, diabetes, hypertension, kidney disease and cardiovascular disorders. However, despite these new findings, controversy regarding the exact role of uric acid in inducing these diseases remains to be unfolded. Furthermore, recent data suggest that the high-fructose diet in the United State, as a major cause of hyperuricemia, may be contributing to the metabolic syndrome/obesity epidemic, diabetes, hypertension, kidney disease and cardiovascular disorder. Our focus in this review is to discuss the available evidence supporting a role for uric acid in the development of metabolic syndrome, hypertension, renal disease, and cardiovascular disorder; and the potential pathophysiology mechanisms involved.

Nociceptin (orphanin FQ) is a novel peptide isolated from brain tissue that has an amino acid sequence most similar to that of the endogenous opioid peptide dynorphin A. Aside from this similarity, the association of nociceptin to the endogenous opioid peptide systems and the functional importance of this new peptide in vivo are not completely known. Here we report that nociceptin is physiologically active in vivo and produces marked changes in the renal excretion of water and sodium. In conscious Sprague-Dawley rats, intravenous infusion of nociceptin produced a profound increase in urine flow rate and decrease in urinary sodium excretion. In further studies, intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of nociceptin into conscious rats produced a concurrent diuresis (dose-dependent) and antinatriuresis. The magnitude and pattern of the central nociceptin-induced water diuresis was similar to that produced by i.c.v. dynorphin A. Whereas i.c.v. pretreatment with the selective kappa-opioid receptor antagonist, nor-binaltorphimine, completely prevented the renal responses produced by dynorphin A, this antagonist did not alter the diuresis or antinatriuresis produced by central nociceptin. Thus, these results indicate that in conscious rats, nociceptin produces a selective water diuresis via a central nervous system mechanism independent of kappa-opioid receptors. Together, these observations suggest that endogenous nociceptin may be a novel peptide involved in the central control of water balance and ultimately in the regulation of arterial blood pressure. In the future, analogues of nociceptin may prove to be the first clinically useful water diuretics for patients with water-retaining diseases.

Objective: To investigate evidence for the interplay between cytokines, angiotensin II and nNOS in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN), for regulating sympathetic outflow in a rat model of CHF. Methods and results: Heart failure was induced in Sprague-Dawley rats by coronary artery ligation. One group of rats was treated with pentoxifylline (PTX, 30 mg/kg IP), a cytokine blocker, or vehicle, for 5 weeks. Another group of rats was pre-treated with PTX before coronary ligation to study prior cytokine blocking effect on survival. Both groups were combined in the analysis. Echocardiography demonstrated an increase in LV end-diastolic pressure and Tei index after 5 weeks in CHF rats. ELISA revealed a significant increase in plasma TNF-α and IL-1β in CHF rats. Inducible NOS (iNOS) and angiotensin receptor-type 1 (AT-1R) mRNA expressions were increased, while neuronal NOS (nNOS) was decreased in the PVN of CHF rats; these changes were reversed by PTX. PTX treatment also decreased plasma norepinephrine and epinephrine levels and improved baroreflex control of renal sympathoexcitation in CHF rats. Immunohistochemistry revealed elevated 3-nitrotyrosine formation in the heart and the PVN of CHF rats, but not in PTX treated rats. Conclusion: PTX decreased both peripheral and central cytokine expression, alleviated nitric oxide dysregulation, and inhibited the formation of peroxynitrite in the PVN resulting in decreased sympathoexcitation in CHF rats.

Abstract[(pF)Phe 4 Aib 7 Arg 14 Lys 15 ]N/OFQ-NH 2 (UFP-112) has been designed as a novel ligand for the nociceptin/orphanin FQ (N/OFQ) peptide receptor (NOP) by combining into the same peptide different chemical modifications reported to increase N/OFQ potency. In vitro data obtained in the electrically stimulated mouse vas deferens demonstrated that UFP-112 behaved as a high potency (pEC 50 9.43) full agonist at the NOP receptor. UFP-112 effects were sensitive to the NOP antagonist UFP-101 but not to naloxone and no longer evident in tissues taken from NOP −/− mice. In vitro half life of UFP-112 in mouse plasma and brain homogenate was 2.6 and 3.5 fold higher than that of N/ OFQ. In vivo, in the mouse tail withdrawal assay, UFP-112 (1-100 pmol, i.c.v.) mimicked the actions of N/OFQ producing pronociceptive effects after i.c.v. administration and antinociceptive effects when given i.t; in both cases, UFP-112 was approx. 100 fold more potent than the natural peptide and produced longer lasting effects. UFP-112 also mimicked the hyperphagic effect of N/OFQ producing a bell shaped dose response curve with the maximum reached at 10 pmol. The hyperphagic effects of N/OFQ and UFP-112 were absent in NOP −/− mice. Equi-effective high doses of UFP-112 (0.1 nmol) and N/OFQ (10 nmol) were injected i.c.v. in mice and spontaneous locomotor activity recorded for 16 h. N/OFQ produced a clear inhibitory effect which lasted for 60 min while UFP-112 elicited longer lasting effects (> 6h). In conscious rats, UFP-112 (0.1 and 10 nmol/kg, i.v.) produced a marked and sustained decrease in heart rate, blood pressure, and urinary sodium excretion and a profound increase in urine flow. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that UFP-112 behaves in vitro and in vivo as a highly potent and selective ligand able to produce full and long lasting activation of NOP receptors.

Nociceptin/orphanin FQ modulates various biological functions at central and peripheral levels by selectively activating a G-protein coupled receptor named N/OFQ peptide (NOP) receptor. For extending our knowledge on the biological roles of the N/OFQ-NOP receptor system the identification of selective NOP ligands, especially antagonists, is mandatory. [Nphe1, Arg14, Lys15] N/OFQ-NH2 (UFP-101) is a novel NOP ligand that was designed by combining, in the same molecule, the [Nphe1] chemical modification which eliminates efficacy and the [Arg14, Lys15] substitution which increases ligand potency and duration of action in vivo. In the present article, we summarize the pharmacological features of UFP-101 as determined in a series of in vitro and in vivo assays. Moreover, some biological actions and possible therapeutic indications of NOP ligands are discussed on the basis of results obtained with UFP-101. Data obtained with this compound were compared with those generated using other NOP antagonists, especially J-113397 and [Nphe1]N/OFQ(1-13)-NH2, receptor or peptide knockout mice and other pharmacological tools useful for blocking N/OFQ - NOP receptor signaling. The analysis of the available data demonstrates that UFP-101 is a useful pharmacological tool for the investigation of the central and peripheral biological functions regulated by the N/OFQ-NOP receptor system and for defining the therapeutic potential of NOP receptor ligands.