Pulmonary artery (PA) hypertension was studied in a chronic hypoxic-pulmonary hypertension model (7-21 days) in the rat. Increase in PA pressure (measured by catheterism), cardiac right ventricle hypertrophy (determined by echocardiography), and PA remodeling (evaluated by histology) were almost entirely prevented after oral dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) administration (30 mg͞kg every alternate day). Furthermore, in hypertensive rats, oral administration, or intravascular injection (into the jugular vein) of DHEA rapidly decreased PA hypertension. In PA smooth muscle cells, DHEA reduced the level of intracellular calcium (measured by microspectrofluorimetry). The effect of DHEA appears to involve a large conductance Ca 2؉ -activated potassium channel (BK Ca)-dependent stimulatory mechanism, at both function and expression levels (isometric contraction and Western blot), via a redox-dependent pathway. Voltage-gated potassium (Kv) channels also may be involved because the antagonist 4-amino-pyridine blocked part of the DHEA effect. The possible pathophysiological and therapeutic significance of the results is discussed.hypoxia ͉ potassium channels E xposure of animals to chronic hypoxia leads to the development of chronic hypoxic-pulmonary hypertension (CH-PHT). In human beings CH-PHT is frequently associated with severe pulmonary diseases. CH-PHT involve pulmonary arterial vasoconstriction and remodeling (1). Although the endothelium is involved in the pathogenesis of CH-PHT, the role of vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) is increasingly recognized (2).Both the contractile status and the proliferative status of SMCs are regulated by the levels of intracellular Ca 2ϩ ([Ca 2ϩ ] i ). The [Ca 2ϩ ] i levels are determined in part by the influx of Ca 2ϩ through the voltage-gated, L-type Ca 2ϩ channels. In pulmonary artery (PA) SMCs, the membrane potential is regulated by large conductance Ca 2ϩ -activated channels (BK Ca ) (3) and voltagegated K ϩ channels (Kv), including shaker family Kv (4, 5). K channel (BK Ca and Kv) function and expression are downregulated with development and maintenance of CH-PHT (6, 7). CH reduces K current density in PASMCs, resulting in a state of depolarization (8, 9), followed by elevation of [Ca 2ϩ ] i , which induces contraction and proliferation (10).The mechanism for K channel down-regulation is unclear, but recent work suggests that it is related to the altered redox state induced by CH (8). Lungs of rats with CH-PHT are in a more reduced redox state than those of normoxic controls, as indicated by increased levels of reduced glutathione (8). A reduced redox state has potential for both short-term effects through modulation of K ϩ channels function (11) and long-term effects by activating several oxygen-responsive genes including hypoxiainducible factor (HIF) (12).We sought to enhance expression and function of BK Ca by using DHEA, a BK Ca opener in hypoxic human pulmonary cells (13), which can shift the redox balance toward an oxidized state leading to both BK Ca and Kv activatio...

1 This study investigates the role of nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) on endothelial function of pulmonary arteries in a mice model of hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension. 2 In pulmonary arteries from control mice, the NO-synthase inhibitor N o -nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) potentiated contraction to prostaglandin F 2a (PGF 2a ) and completely abolished relaxation to acetylcholine. In extrapulmonary but not intrapulmonary arteries, acetylcholine-induced relaxation was slightly inhibited by polyethyleneglycol-superoxide dismutase (PEG-SOD) or catalase. 3 In pulmonary arteries from hypoxic mice, ROS levels (evaluated using dihydroethidium staining) were higher than in controls. In these arteries, relaxation to acetylcholine (but not to sodium nitroprusside) was markedly diminished. L-NAME abolished relaxation to acetylcholine, but failed to potentiate PGF 2a -induced contraction. PEG-SOD or catalase blunted residual relaxation to acetylcholine in extrapulmonary arteries, but did not modify it in intrapulmonary arteries. Hydrogen peroxide elicited comparable (L-NAME-insensitive) relaxations in extra-and intrapulmonary arteries from hypoxic mice. 4 Exposure of gp91phox -/-mice to chronic hypoxia also decreased the relaxant effect of acetylcholine in extrapulmonary arteries. However, in intrapulmonary arteries from hypoxic gp91phox -/-mice, the effect of acetylcholine was similar to that obtained in mice not exposed to hypoxia. 5 Chronic hypoxia increases ROS levels and impairs endothelial NO-dependent relaxation in mice pulmonary arteries. Mechanisms underlying hypoxia-induced endothelial dysfunction differ along pulmonary arterial bed. In extrapulmonary arteries from hypoxic mice, endothelium-dependent relaxation appears to be mediated by ROS, in a gp91phox-independent manner. In intrapulmonary arteries, endothelial dysfunction depends on gp91phox, the latter being rather the trigger than the mediator of impaired endothelial NO-dependent relaxation.

BackgroundEndothelial control of vascular smooth muscle plays a major role in the resulting vasoreactivity implicated in physiological or pathological circulatory processes. However, a comprehensive understanding of endothelial (EC)/smooth muscle cells (SMC) crosstalk is far from complete. Here, we have examined the role of gap junctions and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in this crosstalk and we demonstrate an active contribution of SMC to endothelial control of vasomotor tone.Methodology/Principal FindingsIn small intrapulmonary arteries, quantitative RT-PCR, Western Blot analyses and immunofluorescent labeling evidenced connexin (Cx) 37, 40 and 43 in EC and/or SMC. Functional experiments showed that the Cx-mimetic peptide targeted against Cx 37 and Cx 43 (37,43Gap27) (1) reduced contractile and calcium responses to serotonin (5-HT) simultaneously recorded in pulmonary arteries and (2) abolished the diffusion in SMC of carboxyfluorescein-AM loaded in EC. Similarly, contractile and calcium responses to 5-HT were decreased by superoxide dismutase and catalase which, catabolise superoxide anion and H2O2, respectively. Both Cx- and ROS-mediated effects on the responses to 5-HT were reversed by L-NAME, a NO synthase inhibitor or endothelium removal. Electronic paramagnetic resonance directly demonstrated that 5-HT-induced superoxide anion production originated from the SMC. Finally, whereas 5-HT increased NO production, it also decreased cyclic GMP content in isolated intact arteries.Conclusions/SignificanceThese data demonstrate that agonist-induced ROS production in SMC targeting EC via myoendothelial gap junctions reduces endothelial NO-dependent control of pulmonary vasoreactivity. Such SMC modulation of endothelial control may represent a signaling pathway controlling vasoreactivity under not only physiological but also pathological conditions that often implicate excessive ROS production.