Biotin is a member of the vitamin B-complex family. Biotin deficiency has been associated with hyperglycaemia and insulin resistance in animals and humans. In the present study, we investigated the pharmacological effects of biotin on hypertension in the stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHRSP) strain. We observed that long-term administration of biotin decreased systolic blood pressure in the SHRSP strain; also, a single dose of biotin immediately decreased systolic blood pressure in this strain. Pretreatment with the guanylate cyclase inhibitor 1H-[1,2,4]oxadiazole [4,3-a]quinoxalin-1-one abolished the hypotensive action of biotin in the SHRSP strain, while pretreatment with the NO synthase inhibitor N G -nitro-L-arginine methyl ester had no effect on the action of biotin. Biotin reduced coronary arterial thickening and the incidence of stroke in the SHRSP strain. These results suggest that the pharmacological dose of biotin decreased the blood pressure of the SHRSP via an NO-independent direct activation of soluble guanylate cyclase. Our findings reveal the beneficial effects of biotin on hypertension and the incidence of stroke.
Biogeochemical cycles of Ca, Mg, K, and Na were studied in a small forested watershed on relatively base‐rich terrain at the Sleepers River Research Watersheds (SRRW) in northeastern Vermont and on base‐poor terrain at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (HBEF) in central New Hampshire. The two watersheds are comparable except that shallower soils at the SRRW are weathered from calcareous and quartz mica schist till, whereas the deeper soils at the HBEF are weathered from schist, gneiss, and quartz monzonite till. Inputs of the four cations in precipitation were similar except for Ca; Ca inputs were an order of magnitude greater at the SRRW. Total annual cation outputs were more strongly related to total stream flow and parent material geochemistry than to cation inputs in precipitation. Analysis of the variation in cation output in stream water with respect to flow suggests strong geochemical control of cation output at the SRRW. Similar analysis of data from the HBEF suggests a more complex pattern of cation output related to biological cycling of cations. Inputs of acidity may serve to flush the soil at the HBEF of cations.
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