JOURNAL ARTICLE
RESEARCH SUPPORT, NON-U.S. GOV'T
Add like
Add dislike
Add to saved papers

Sustained therapeutic hypercapnia attenuates pulmonary arterial Rho-kinase activity and ameliorates chronic hypoxic pulmonary hypertension in juvenile rats.

Sustained therapeutic hypercapnia prevents pulmonary hypertension in experimental animals, but its rescue effects on established disease have not been studied. Therapies that inhibit Rho-kinase (ROCK) and/or augment nitric oxide (NO)-cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) signaling can reverse or prevent progression of chronic pulmonary hypertension. Our objective in the present study was to determine whether sustained rescue treatment with inhaled CO(2) (therapeutic hypercapnia) would improve structural and functional changes of chronic hypoxic pulmonary hypertension. Spontaneously breathing pups were exposed to normoxia (21% O(2)) or hypoxia (13% O(2)) from postnatal days 1-21 with or without 7% CO(2) (Pa(CO(2)) elevated by ∼25 mmHg) or 10% CO(2) (Pa(CO(2)) elevated by ∼40 mmHg) from days 14 to 21. Compared with hypoxia alone, animals exposed to hypoxia and 10% CO(2) had significantly (P < 0.05) decreased pulmonary vascular resistance, right-ventricular systolic pressure, right-ventricular hypertrophy, and medial wall thickness of pulmonary resistance arteries as well as decreased lung phosphodiesterase (PDE) V, RhoA, and ROCK activity. Rescue treatment with 10% CO(2), or treatment with a ROCK inhibitor (15 mg/kg ip Y-27632 twice daily from days 14 to 21), also increased pulmonary arterial endothelial nitric oxide synthase and lung NO content. In contrast, cGMP content and cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG) activity were increased by exposure to 10% CO(2), but not by ROCK inhibition with Y-27632. In vitro exposure of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells to hypercapnia suppressed serum-induced ROCK activity, which was prevented by inhibition of PKG with Rp-8-Br-PET-cGMPS. We conclude that sustained hypercapnia dose-dependently inhibited ROCK activity, augmented NO-cGMP-PKG signaling, and led to partial improvements in the hemodynamic and structural abnormalities of chronic hypoxic PHT in juvenile rats. Increased PKG content and activity appears to play a major upstream role in CO(2)-induced suppression of ROCK activity in pulmonary arterial smooth muscle.

Full text links

We have located links that may give you full text access.
Can't access the paper?
Try logging in through your university/institutional subscription. For a smoother one-click institutional access experience, please use our mobile app.

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

Mobile app image

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.

By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.

Your Privacy Choices Toggle icon

You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app