Jack Work

Heme oxygenase (HO) catalyzes the degradation of heme to biliverdin, iron, and CO. The inducible isoform (HO-1) has been implicated as a modulator of the inflammatory response. HO-1 activity can be induced by hemin and inhibited with zinc protoporphyrin IX (ZnPP). Using these reagents, we assessed the possibility that HO-1 modulates the inflammatory response by altering the expression of endothelial cell adhesion molecules. Endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide, LPS)-induced expression of P- and E-selectin expression was quantified in different vascular beds of the rat using the dual radiolabeled monoclonal antibody technique. Pretreatment with hemin attenuated, whereas ZnPP treatment exacerbated, the increased selectin expression normally elicited by LPS. Biliverdin, at an equimolar dosage, was as effective as hemin in attenuating LPS-induced selectin expression in the lung, kidneys, liver, and intestines. These findings indicate that the anti-inflammatory properties of HO-1 may be related to an inhibitory action of P- and E-selectin expression in the vasculature. Biliverdin (or its metabolite, bilirubin), rather than CO, may account for this action of HO-1 on endothelial cell adhesion molecule expression.

We dissected and perfused outer medullary vasa recta (OMVR) from vascular bundles in the rat. Permeabilities of sodium (PNa) and urea (Pu) were simultaneously determined from the lumen-to-bath efflux of 22Na and [14C]urea. PNa and Pu were also measured by in vivo microperfusion of descending (DVR) and ascending vasa recta (AVR) at the papillary tip of Munich-Wistar rats. In some OMVR PNa was indistinguishable from zero. The mean +/- SE of PNa (x 10(-5), cm/s) in OMVR was 76 +/- 9. Pu in OMVR was always very high (x 10(-5), cm/s), 360 +/- 14. There was no correlation between OMVR PNa and Pu. Inner medullary AVR and DVR had PNa of 115 +/- 10 and 75 +/- 10, respectively, and Pu of 121 +/- 10 and 76 +/- 11, respectively. PNa and Pu in papillary vasa recta were always nearly identical and highly correlated. Transport of [14C] urea in OMVR was reversibly inhibited by addition of unlabeled urea or phloretin to the bath and lumen, providing evidence for carrier-mediated transport. These data suggest that sodium and urea might traverse the wall of inner medullary vasa recta by a paracellular pathway while urea also crosses by a transcellular route in OMVR. Electron microscopic examination of seven in vitro perfused OMVR revealed no fenestrations and exposure of these vessels to 10 microM calcium ionophore A23187 or 1 nM angiotensin II resulted in reversible contraction, suggesting that in vitro perfused OMVR are DVR only.