Evidence suggests that the reactive oxygen species peroxynitrite (PN) is an important player in the pathophysiology of acute spinal cord injury (SCI). In the present study, we examined the ability of tempol, a catalytic scavenger of PN-derived free radicals, to alleviate oxidative damage, mitochondrial dysfunction and cytoskeletal degradation following a severe contusion (200 kdyn force) SCI in...

Oxidative stress plays a pathogenic role in hypertension, particularly the one associated with diabetes and obesity. Here, we test the hypothesis that renal dopamine D1 receptor dysfunction in obese Zucker rats is caused by oxidative stress. One group each from lean and obese Zucker rats received tempol, a superoxide dismutase mimetic in drinking water for 2 weeks. Obese animals were hypertensi...

Superoxide radical (O2 ) is increased in the vessel wall of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) where its blockade potentiates endothelium-dependent vasodilation. The purpose of this study was to determine the role of O2 2 in the hypertension and renal vasoconstriction of SHR and its interaction with nitric oxide (NO). Baseline mean arterial pressure (MAP) and renal vascular resistance were m...

Obesity and hypertension are risk factors for the development of chronic kidney disease. The mechanisms by which elevated blood pressure and fatty acids lead to the development of renal injury are incompletely understood. Here, we investigated the contributions of cholesterol and oxidative stress to renal endothelial dysfunction and glomerular injury in a model of obesity and hypertension. Male...

Aging contributes significantly to the development of cardiovascular disease and is associated with elevated production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The beneficial effects of nitric oxide (NO)-mediated vasodilation are quickly abolished in the presence of ROS, and this effect may be augmented with aging. We previously demonstrated an age-induced impairment of flow-induced dilation in rat c...

BACKGROUND One of common mechanisms in pathophysiology of chronic kidney diseases is epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). On the other hand oxidative stress has been known to participate in kidney damage of diabetic nephropathy (DN). OBJECTIVES We studied if tempol, a well-known antioxidant agent, can ameliorate EMT in DN induced in male rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty-seven male rat...

Clinical and experimental studies have shown that sustained increase in renal sympathetic nerve activity (rSNA) contributes to hypertension. Previous studies by our group showed that antioxidant treatments improve arterial baroreceptor reflex, which is a powerful beat-to-beat negative feedback control of arterial blood pressure (BP). We hypothesized that reactive oxygen species (ROS) contribute...

PURPOSE Radiotherapy is commonly used to treat a majority of patients with head and neck cancers. The long-term radiation-induced reduction of saliva output significantly contributes to the posttreatment morbidity experienced by these patients. The purpose of this study was to test the ability of the stable-free radical Tempol (4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-N-oxyl), an established rad...

BACKGROUND We have recently shown that microinjection of the superoxide dismutase mimetic tempol into the pressor region of the rostral ventrolateral medulla attenuates the cardiovascular response to mental (air-jet) stress in rabbits. In the present study, we examined the influence of tempol on the blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) responses to stress in the key region of the hypothalami...