BackgroundMetabolic syndrome (coexisting visceral obesity, dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia, and hypertension) is a prominent risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, however, its effect on cardiac gene expression pattern is unclear. Therefore, we examined the possible alterations in cardiac gene expression pattern in male Zucker Diabetic Fatty (ZDF) rats, a model of metabolic syndrome.MethodsFasting blood glucose, serum insulin, cholesterol and triglyceride levels were measured at 6, 16, and 25 wk of age in male ZDF and lean control rats. Oral glucose tolerance test was performed at 16 and 25 wk of age. At week 25, total RNA was isolated from the myocardium and assayed by rat oligonucleotide microarray for 14921 genes. Expression of selected genes was confirmed by qRT-PCR.ResultsFasting blood glucose, serum insulin, cholesterol and triglyceride levels were significantly increased, glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity were impaired in ZDF rats compared to leans. In hearts of ZDF rats, 36 genes showed significant up-regulation and 49 genes showed down-regulation as compared to lean controls. Genes with significantly altered expression in the heart due to metabolic syndrome includes functional clusters of metabolism (e.g. 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-Coenzyme A synthase 2; argininosuccinate synthetase; 2-amino-3-ketobutyrate-coenzyme A ligase), structural proteins (e.g. myosin IXA; aggrecan1), signal transduction (e.g. activating transcription factor 3; phospholipase A2; insulin responsive sequence DNA binding protein-1) stress response (e.g. heat shock 70kD protein 1A; heat shock protein 60; glutathione S-transferase Yc2 subunit), ion channels and receptors (e.g. ATPase, (Na+)/K+ transporting, beta 4 polypeptide; ATPase, H+/K+ transporting, nongastric, alpha polypeptide). Moreover some other genes with no definite functional clusters were also changed such as e.g. S100 calcium binding protein A3; ubiquitin carboxy-terminal hydrolase L1; interleukin 18. Gene ontology analysis revealed several significantly enriched functional inter-relationships between genes influenced by metabolic syndrome.ConclusionsMetabolic syndrome significantly alters cardiac gene expression profile which may be involved in development of cardiac pathologies in the presence of metabolic syndrome.

The new macrocyclic lathyrane diterpenes latilagascenes A and B ( 1 and 2), the diacetylated derivative of 2, latilagascene C ( 3), and the known diterpenes ent-16alpha,17-dihydroxyatisan-3-one ( 4) and ent-16alpha,17-dihydroxykauran-3-one ( 5), isolated from the methanol extract of Euphorbia lagascae, were examined for their effects on the reversal of multidrug resistance (MDR) on mouse lymphoma cells. Among the active lathyrane derivatives 1 - 3, compound 2 displayed the highest inhibition of rhodamine 123 efflux of human MDR1 gene transfected mouse lymphoma cells when compared to the untreated cells or the positive control verapamil. The new compounds are the first macrocyclic lathyrane diterpenes showing oxidation at C-16, whose structures were characterized by extensive spectroscopic methods, including 2D NMR experiments ( (1)H- (1)H COSY, HMQC, HMBC and NOESY). The known phenolic compounds vanillic acid ( 6), p-salicylic acid ( 7), isofraxidin ( 8) and cleomiscosin A ( 9) were also isolated from this species.

The multidrug resistance (MDR) proteins are member of the ATP-binding cassette superfamily and are present in a majority of human tumors. Their activity is a crucial factor leading to therapeutic failure. It is likely that compounds which inhibit the function of the MDR-efflux proteins such as MDR1 will improve the cytotoxic action of anticancer chemotherapy. Therefore, a search for MDR reversing compounds was conducted among three classes of plant derived compounds such as diterpenes, triterpenes and carotenoids in a hope to find inhibitors without adverse effects in these natural compounds. The inhibition of efflux activity was determined by measuring the accumulation of substrate analogues such as rhodamine in tumor cells in the presence of potential inhibitors. Thus we determined the effect of structurally unrelated diterpenes, triterpenes and carotenoids on reversal of multidrug resistance in MDR-1 gene-transfected L1210 mouse lymphoma cells and MDR mediated multidrug resistance of human breast cancer cells MDA-MB-231 (HTB-26) and MCF-7. The majority of diterpenes, cycloartane triterpenes and carotenoids isolated from vegetables and medicinal plants were able to enhance rhodamine 123 accumulations of MDR-cells. Synergistic interaction was found between epirubicine and resistance modifier terpenoids in vitro. It is supposed that these MDR modulators bind into transmembrane domains and the action of ABC transporters is inhibited by induced conformational changes.

Two new tetracyclic diterpene polyesters, euphoportlandols A (1) and B (2), have been isolated along with 12 known tetracyclic triterpenes from an acetone extract of Euphorbia portlandica. Their structures were established as 5alpha,11alpha,14alpha,17-tetraacetoxy-3beta-benzoyloxy-6beta,15beta-dihydroxy-9-oxoseget-8(12)-ene (1) and 5alpha,11alpha,14alpha,17-tetraacetoxy-3beta-benzoyloxy-6beta,15beta-dihydroxy-9-oxosegetane (2), respectively, by spectroscopic data interpretation. Compounds 1 and 2 were evaluated for their ability to inhibit multidrug resistance in cancer cells. Both compounds were found to be inhibitors of P-glycoprotein activity.