Qiming Shao

Inhibitors of angiogenic factors are known to be upregulated, and their levels increase in the maternal circulation before the onset of preeclampsia. We reproduced a previously characterized model of preeclampsia by adenoviral overexpression of the soluble vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor sFlt-1 (also referred to as sVEGFR-1) in pregnant and nonpregnant Sprague-Dawley rats. Animals were treated with VEGF121 at 0, 100, 200, or 400 microg/kg once or twice daily (n=8 per group; 64 total) and compared with normal control animals (n=4 per group) by examination of systolic blood pressure, urinary albumin and creatinine, renal histopathology, and glomerular gene expression profiling. sFlt-1 expression induced hypertension with proteinuria and glomerular endotheliosis and significant changes in gene expression. VEGF121 treatment alleviated these symptoms and reversed 125 of 268 sFlt-1-induced changes in gene expression. VEGF121 had beneficial effects in this rat model of preeclampsia without apparent harm to the fetus. Further study of VEGF121 as a potential therapeutic agent for preeclampsia is warranted.

Although phosphatidic acid (PA) is mainly formed due to the hydrolysis of phosphatidylcholine by myocardial phospholipase D, its functional significance in the heart is not fully understood. The present study was designed to determine the effects of PA on intracellular free Ca2+ level ([Ca2+]i) in freshly isolated adult rat cardiomyocytes by using fura 2-acextoxmethylester and free fura 2 technique. Addition of PA at concentrations of 1-200 microM produced a concentration-dependent increase in [Ca2+]i from the basal level of 117 +/- 8 nM; maximal increase in [Ca2+]i was 233 +/- 50 nM, whereas median effective concentration (EC50) for PA was 45 +/- 1.2 microM. This increase in [Ca2+]i was abolished by the removal of extracellular Ca2+ with ethylene glycol-bis(beta-aminoethyl ether)-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid and was partially attenuated by Ca2+ channel blockers, verapamil or diltiazem. Preincubation of cardiomyocytes with cyclopiazonic acid and thapsigargin or with ryanodine [to deplete sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+] attenuated the PA-induced increase in [Ca2+]i by 66, 37, and 43%, respectively. Furthermore, the response of [Ca2+]i to PA was blunted by 2-nitro-4 carboxyphenylcarbonate, an inhibitor of phospholipase C, but was unaffected by staurosporine, a protein kinase C inhibitor. PA was also observed to induce Ca2+ efflux from the myocytes. In addition, an injection of PA (0.34 microgram/100 g body wt i.v.) in rats produced a significant increase of the left ventricular developed pressure as well as the maximum rates of cardiac contraction and relaxation within 5 min. These data suggest that the PA-induced increase in [Ca2+]i in cardiomyocytes is a consequence of both Ca2+ influx from the extracellular source and Ca2+ release from the intracellular SR stores. Furthermore, these in vitro data suggest the possibility that PA may regulate [Ca2+]i and contractile parameters in the heart.

The activities of both sarcolemmal (SL) Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase and Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchanger, which maintain the intracellular cation homeostasis, have been shown to be depressed in heart failure due to myocardial infarction (MI). Because the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is activated in heart failure, this study tested the hypothesis that attenuation of cardiac SL changes in congestive heart failure (CHF) by angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors is associated with prevention of alterations in gene expression for SL Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase and Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchanger. CHF in rats due to MI was induced by occluding the coronary artery, and 3 wk later the animals were treated with an ACE inhibitor, imidapril (1 mg.kg(-1).day(-1)), for 4 wk. Heart dysfunction and cardiac hypertrophy in the infarcted animals were associated with depressed SL Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase and Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchange activities. Protein content and mRNA levels for Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchanger as well as Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase alpha(1)-, alpha(2)- and beta(1)-isoforms were depressed, whereas those for alpha(3)-isoform were increased in the failing heart. These changes in SL activities, protein content, and gene expression were attenuated by treating the infarcted animals with imidapril. The beneficial effects of imidapril treatment on heart function and cardiac hypertrophy as well as SL Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase and Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchange activities in the infarcted animals were simulated by enalapril, an ACE inhibitor, and losartan, an angiotensin receptor antagonist. These results suggest that blockade of RAS in CHF improves SL Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase and Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchange activities in the failing heart by preventing changes in gene expression for SL proteins.