In spite of tremendous progress in the understanding of human disease, the search for new mediators continues as numerous conditions remain poorly understood. In particular in many forms of renal disease, effective and cause-orientated forms of therapy are still lacking. The discovery of new pathogenetic mechanisms often leads to the development of new drugs with previously unknown properties w...

Endothelin receptor antagonists and phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors are used to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension. We tested the hypothesis that a selective endothelin type A receptor antagonist (ambrisentan) and a phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor (tadalafil) may act synergistically to relax endothelin-constricted pulmonary arteries. Rat isolated intrapulmonary arterial rings contract...

Stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP) often suffer from spontaneous stroke, in part, due to abnormalities in the cerebrovasculature. Here, we investigate the profile of key angiogenic factors and their basic signaling molecules in the brain of SHRSP during the age-dependent stages of hypertension. The profile of VEGF and its receptor, Flk-1, was dependent on age and stage of hype...

BACKGROUND Endothelin is an extremely potent vasoconstrictor that may have a role in the pathogenesis of acute myocardial ischaemia. Atrial natriuretic factor is an endogenous antagonist of endothelin. To find the pattern and possible importance of circulating endothelin in ischaemic heart disease, concentrations in normal controls and those in patients with stable and unstable angina, acute my...

Endothelin-converting enzyme is a phosphoramidon-sensitive membrane metallopeptidase that catalyses the final step in biosynthesis of the potent vasoactive endothelin peptides. Immunomagnetic separation technology and immunohistochemistry have been used to demonstrate the co-localisation of endothelin-converting enzyme with the established ectoenzyme, aminopeptidase N, on the surface of endothe...

We examined the inhibitory effect of porcine C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) on endothelin-1 secretion stimulated by thrombin and angiotensin II (Ang II) in cultured porcine endothelial cells. The results were compared with the effects of atrial (ANP) and brain (BNP) natriuretic peptides. Thrombin and Ang II produced a concentration-dependent stimulation of immunoreactive endothelin-1 secretio...

Respiratory tract viral infections are associated with the generation of a wide array of pro-inflammatory cytokines, some of which enhance the release of the potent airway smooth muscle spasmogen, endothelin, from respiratory epithelial cells in tissue culture. The aim of this study was to determine whether the content and distribution of immunoreactive endothelin in the intact murine lung is i...

This study investigates gene therapy with human tissue kallikrein as a treatment for fructose-induced hypertension in rats. Hypertension was induced by addition of 10% fructose to drinking water. Fructose-fed rats also had increased serum insulin and triglycerides, decreased urine osmolarity, increased urine volume and endothelin-1, and increased aortic endothelin-1, endothelin-A receptor, and ...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the constrictive effect of endothelin, a peptide vasoconstric tor derived from endothelium, on canine basilar artery. Constriction was measured by an isometric ten sion recording method. Endothelin induced prolonged contraction of canine basilar artery in a dose dependent fashion, the estimated concentration at 50% contraction being (2.1 •} 0.5) ×...

Background Plasma endothelin concentrations are increased in the acute phase of myocardial infarction and in chronic heart failure. Since endothelin may contribute to hemodynamic deterioration by potent vasoconstrictory and cardiotoxic actions, increased plasma levels may be associated with an unfavorable prognosis after myocardial infarction. Methods and Results We tested the hypothesis that p...