OBJECTIVES We examined whether arginase inhibition influences hepatic metabolic pathways and whole body adiposity in diet-induced obesity. METHODS AND RESULTS After obesity induction by a high fat diet (HFD), mice were fed either the HFD or the HFD with an arginase inhibitor, Nω-hydroxy-nor-L-arginine (nor-NOHA). Nor-NOHA significantly prevented HFD-induced increases in body, liver, and visce...

We prove an nΩ(1)/4k lower bound on the randomized k-party communication complexity of depth 4 AC0 functions in the number-on-forehead (NOF) model for up to Θ(log n) players. These are the first nontrivial lower bounds for general NOF multiparty communication complexity for any AC0 function for ω(log logn) players. For nonconstant k the bounds are larger than all previous lower bounds for any A...

AMP-kinase (AMPK) activation reduces cardiac hypertrophy, although underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, we elucidated the anti-hypertrophic action of metformin, specifically, the role of the AMPK/eNOS/p53 pathway. H9c2 rat cardiomyocytes were treated with angiotensin II (AngII) for 24 hrs in the presence or absence of metformin (AMPK agonist), losartan [AngII type 1 re...

In the present study we have extended our previous findings about the effects of 10 minutes of passive mandibular extension in anesthetized Wistar rats. By prolonging the observation time to 3 hours, we showed that 10 minutes mandibular extension caused a significant reduction of the mean arterial blood pressure and heart rate respect to baseline values, which persisted up to 160 minutes after ...

Innate airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) is well modeled by two strains of rat, the hyperresponsive Fischer 344 rat and the normoresponsive Lewis rat. Arginase has been implicated in AHR associated with allergic asthma models. We addressed the role of arginase in innate AHR using the Fischer-Lewis model. In vivo arginase inhibition with N(ω)-hydroxy-nor-arginine (nor-NOHA) was evaluated on metha...

BACKGROUND Long-term inhibition of nitric oxide synthase by L-arginine analogues such as N(ω)-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) has been shown to induce senescence in vitro and systemic hypertension and arteriosclerosis in vivo. We previously reported that plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1)-deficient mice (PAI-1(-/-)) are protected against L-NAME-induced pathologies. In this study, ...

The present study was designed to evaluate the antihypertensive effect of GaMiSamHwangSaSimTang (HVC1), a 30% ethanol extract of a mixture comprising Pruni Cortex, Scutellariae Radix, Coptidis Rhizoma, and Rhei Rhizoma, on spontaneous hypertensive rats (SHRs). The systolic blood pressure (SBP) was measured every 4 or 7 days using the noninvasive tail cuff system. The vasorelaxant effects on iso...

OBJECTIVES This study investigates the effects on aortic stiffness and vasodilation by arotinolol and the underlying mechanisms in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). METHODS The vasodilations of rat aortas, renal and mesenteric arteries were evaluated by isometric force recording. Nitric oxide (NO) was measured in human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs) by fluorescent probes. Sixteen-week ...

Fatty acid (FA) release from white adipose tissue (WAT) is the result of the balance between triglyceride breakdown and FA re-esterification. The latter relies on the induction of cytosolic phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK-C), the key enzyme for glyceroneogenesis. We previously demonstrated that long-term (18 h) leptin treatment of rat epididymal WAT explants reduced glyceroneogenesis t...