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Biomedical subjects

P Hamet

Publications and source records attributed to P Hamet.

At least 217 records · Page 12Linked to original sources

The increase of cGMP by atrial natriuretic factor correlates with the distribution of particulate guanylate cyclase.

We have demonstrated previously that atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) augments urinary, plasma and kidney cGMP levels but has no significant effect upon cAMP. Using cGMP as a marker, we searched for specific target sites involved in the action of ANF in the dog kidney, and observed no change of cGMP in the proximal tubules, a 2-fold increase over basal levels in the thick loop of Henle and a 3-fold elevation in the collecting duct. The most striking action on cGMP occurred in the glomeruli with a rise of up to 50-fold being evident at 1-2 min. after the addition of ANF. The results obtained in the absence or presence of a phosphodiesterase inhibitor support the notion that the effects of ANF were exerted at the level of guanylate cyclase stimulation rather than cGMP phosphodiesterase inhibition. The action of sodium nitroprusside (SNP), a direct stimulator of soluble guanylate cyclase, differed from that of ANF. The ability of the factor to enhance cGMP levels was correlated with the distribution of particulate guanylate cyclase. This study identifies the glomeruli and the distal part of the nephron as specific targets of ANF and implicates particulate guanylate cyclase as the enzyme targetted for the expression of its action.

Animals↗

Abnormalities of platelet-derived growth factors in insulin-dependent diabetes.

Platelets are involved in homeostasis of the vascular wall at various levels. An important feature of this involvement is the potential for platelet proliferation. Platelets from normal subjects contain platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), epithelial growth factor (EGF), and transforming growth factor. We have detected the presence of an excessive growth-promoting activity in the heated supernatant fraction derived from the platelets of young, insulin-dependent diabetics. This activity is most pronounced when measured in cultures of smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts. This activity may be further separated into cationic and anionic fractions by ion exchange chromatography of the platelet-rich supernatant. The cationic factor corresponds to PDGF, whereas the anionic factor appears to be identical to EGF. Chronic, intensive insulin therapy normalizes the excessive growth-promoting activity of platelets from diabetics. Further studies are needed to evaluate the differential release of those growth-promoting factors found in platelets of normal subjects and in patients with vascular disease.

Adult↗

Effect of metoclopramide on plasma catecholamine release in essential hypertension.

The catecholamine (CA)-releasing action of metoclopramide (MCP) observed in patients with pheochromocytoma was tested in 20 subjects with essential hypertension and compared with the same effect of glucagon in 10 of them. We found that even in the absence of pheochromocytoma, MCP is a CA-releasing substance, moderately increasing systolic blood pressure and pulse rate. The release of CA is reflected by an increase in concentrations of free norepinephrine and total (free plus sulfated) epinephrine 3 minutes and of total dopamine and norepinephrine 10 minutes after the MCP bolus dose, whereas glucagon had an effect on the release of free epinephrine. Regional catheterization before and after MCP dosing in one subject showed a considerable increase in adrenal epinephrine and norepinephrine concentrations 45 seconds after the MCP bolus dose. MCP has a free CA-releasing potency much like that of glucagon. Because the released free CA is readily sulfoconjugated, the effect on CA release can be more easily detected when conjugated CA is determined. MCP should thus be used with caution in pheochromocytoma as well as in other forms of hypertension.

Adult↗

Effect of natural and synthetic atrial natriuretic factor on arterial blood pressure, natriuresis and cyclic GMP excretion in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

The differential effects of extracted and synthetic atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) on arterial blood pressure, natriuresis, and cyclic GMP excretion were studied in normotensive (WKY) and spontaneously hypertensive (SHR and SHRSP) rats. Atrial extracts or synthetic (101-126)-ANF decreased arterial blood pressure in all tested animals, but the blood pressure-lowering effect was more pronounced in hypertensive than in normotensive rats. ANF-induced diuresis and natriuresis were two- to three-fold higher in the hypertensive groups. However, a several-fold increase in total urinary cyclic GMP level after the infusion of ANF was essentially equal in the three groups. Our data suggest that acute infusion of ANF reveals a defect of sodium and water handling in SHR. It is possible that this defect is located at the distal nephron, and is made apparent by the action of ANF on glomeruli via a cyclic GMP-induced vascular effect.

Animals↗

Orthostatic hypotension: a posture-induced hyperdopaminergic state.

To explore the role of dopaminergic mechanisms in orthostatic hypotension we compared the postural responses of 20 such patients to those of a control group by radioenzymatic determination of free and sulfated catecholamines and related indices. Patients with orthostatic hypotension, unlike control subjects, experienced an increase in total plasma dopamine (DA) (free + sulfate) in response to upright posture (p less than 0.01). Of the 20 patients with orthostatic hypotension, 16 were normo- or hyperadrenergic with normal basal and posture-responsive or hyperresponsive plasma free and total norepinephrine (NE). The other 4 were hypoadrenergic with low basal and posture-unresponsive NE. Hypoadrenergic patients had, in the upright position, no increase in pulse rate and more severe hypotension, less diuresis and natriuresis, lower urinary free and total DA, lower total NE excretion, and higher plasma and urinary total DA:total NE ratio than normo- or hyperadrenergic patients or control subjects. Normo- or hyperadrenergic patients had higher PRA and plasma aldosterone in the upright position than hypoadrenergic patients or control subjects (all p less than 0.05). We suggest that an excessive increase in free DA occurs in response to upright posture, perhaps representing a compensatory reaction of the remaining autonomic nervous system to an excessive fall in blood pressure. The free dopamine may be biologically active but it is so rapidly sulfoconjugated that it can be detected only as DA sulfate. These findings, combined with reports of orthostatic hypotension precipitated by administration of dopaminomimetic drugs and relieved by administration of dopaminergic antagonists, are consistent with the interpretation that excessive DA release may perpetuate, by its vasodilating and natriuretic action, the orthostatic hypotension.

Adult↗

Primary versus secondary events in hypertension.

Functional modifications, such as a reduction in hormonal response, which occur in the cardiovascular system in hypertension, are reflected at the cellular level by anomalies in cyclic nucleotide and other messenger systems. To distinguish between primary and adaptive abnormalities, we pursued three research strategies. (i) Investigations on various models of hypertension. To be considered a primary defect, an abnormality should also be present in other genetically hypertensive models. Indeed, we have confirmed the occurrence of cellular hyperplasia in the heart of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) as well as in spontaneously hypertensive mice (SHM). An increase of calmodulin levels in the heart and kidney is also observed in both the SHR and SHM. (ii) Studies on the evolution of hypertension with age. In humans, a decrease of cAMP levels in response to beta-adrenergic stimulation in older patients is contrasted with an excess in younger subjects. In the SHR, protein kinase activity of the heart is lower in the prehypertensive stages, whereas this defect appears much later in the aorta. (iii) Experiments on anomalies in newborns and cultured cells. The heart and kidney in the SHR exhibit significant hyperplasia at birth, and an abnormal growth continues in tissue culture. We hope that these strategies will eventually help to provide biochemical and functional markers for genetic analysis of factors which may be involved in the pathogenesis of hypertension.

Aging↗

Rapid increase in plasma and urinary cyclic GMP after bolus injection of atrial natriuretic factor in man.

We studied the effects of a bolus injection of 50/micrograms synthetic human atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) on the cyclic GMP and cyclic AMP levels in plasma and urine of eight normal men. Administration of the hormone increased basal immunoreactive (IR-) ANF levels in plasma 2.8-fold to 110 pM three minutes after injection. Thereafter, IR-ANF levels rapidly declined to basal levels. Plasma cyclic GMP levels increased 2.6-fold to 16.6 nM within 6 minutes after ANF and decreased to near basal values within 30 minutes. Urinary cyclic GMP excretion increased 2.8-fold, whereas urinary volume and sodium excretion increased less than two-fold in the 30 minutes after ANF. Plasma cyclic AMP levels did not change. The data indicate that changes in plasma IR-ANF levels are followed by changes in plasma cyclic GMP and in urinary cyclic GMP excretion and suggest that cyclic GMP is a biological marker for circulating ANF in man.

Adult↗

Effect of atrial natriuretic factor [ANF (Arg 101--Tyr 126)] on kallikrein and cyclic GMP in the renovascular hypertensive rat.

The intravenous injection of an ED50 natriuretic dose (1 microgram) of synthetic ANF decreases blood pressure by 61 +/- 6 mmHg in 2-K, 1-C, and of 45 +/- 6 mmHg in 1-K, 1-C hypertensive rats, which was positively correlated with its initial level only in the 2-K, 1-C group. The hypotensive response lasted longer in the latter (greater than 40 min) than in normotensive sham-operated rats. No difference in duration was seen between 1-K, 1-C hypertensive and its uninephrectomized normotensive controls. The diuretic response to ANF was higher in 2-K, 1-C rats. No hematocrit changes were observed in any group. ANF induced a rise in urinary kallikrein in all groups but the 1-K, 1-C. Urinary kallikrein excretion was positively correlated with natriuresis in normotensive but not in hypertensive groups. ANF induced an increase in urinary cGMP excretion in all groups but the 1-K, 1-C, and an increase in plasma cGMP in the normotensive sham-operated animals. Our results suggest that the fall in blood pressure induced by synthetic ANF could be due to vasodilatation, a drop in cardiac output cannot, however, be eliminated. Whether the hypotensive effect of ANF is mediated by cGMP remains to be demonstrated.

Animals↗

Effect of chronic infusion of synthetic atrial natriuretic factor (ANF 8-33) in conscious two-kidney, one-clip hypertensive rats.

Conscious two-kidney, one-clip hypertensive rats were chronically infused during 7 days with synthetic ANF (8-33) (1 microgram/hr/rat) by means of osmotic minipumps. The initial blood pressure of 183 +/- 4 mmHg gradually decreased to 116 +/- 5 mmHg the last 2 days of infusion. Pressure diuresis returned to normal and pressure natriuresis was attenuated. PRA was significantly lower (1.81 +/- 0.41 AI ng/ml/hr) than in not treated hypertensive rats (8.56 +/- 3.75 AI ng/ml/hr). A partial regression in cardiac hypertrophy was observed in the treated group. We suggest that the hypotensive response to ANF may be mainly due to vasodilatation, but the possibility that the decrease in PRA may play a partial role in lowering blood pressure, cannot be excluded.

Animals↗

Chronic infusion of low doses of atrial natriuretic factor (ANF Arg 101-Tyr 126) reduces blood pressure in conscious SHR without apparent changes in sodium excretion.

Conscious SHR and WKY rats were infused during 7 days with synthetic ANF (Arg 101-Tyr 126), 100 ng/hr/rat (35 pmol/hr/rat) by means of miniosmotic pumps. The SHR initial blood pressure of 177 +/- 5 mmHg gradually dropped to 133 +/- 3 and 142 +/- 4 mmHg the last two days of infusion. No significant change in blood pressure was observed in the ANF-infused WKY group. No apparent difference in natriuresis or diuresis was observed in ANF-infused SHR and WKY when compared with non-infused control groups. A slight but significant lower immunoreactive ANF concentration was found in the atria of SHR than in their normotensive controls. No difference in cardiac weight was found between infused and non-infused rats. It is suggested that the hypotensive response observed in SHR and not in WKY is due to a decrease in vascular peripheral resistance. Whether ANF is involved in the development and maintenance of high blood pressure in SHR remains to be elucidated.

Animals↗

Activation of cyclic GMP-binding and cyclic AMP-specific phosphodiesterases of rat platelets by a mechanism involving cyclic AMP-dependent phosphorylation.

We have previously reported that the cAMP-specific phosphodiesterase activity in washed rat platelets is increased by a short exposure of platelet suspension to PGE1 and 1-methyl-3-isobutyl-xanthine (MIX). We report here that the incubation of washed platelets with forskolin resulted in an increase in the binding of cGMP and the activity of cGMP-phosphodiesterase as well as that of cAMP-specific phosphodiesterase. As for PGE1, MIX potentiated the stimulatory effect of forskolin. The maximal activation of phosphodiesterases by forskolin and MIX occurred after 30 sec of incubation of platelets (with a slow decline thereafter). The activation of phosphodiesterases in intact platelets by forskolin occurred in parallel with the dissociation of a cAMP-dependent protein kinase. Prior incubation of a platelet supernatant with Mg-ATP and cAMP had only a slight effect on cAMP- or cGMP-phosphodiesterase activities, but the presence of MIX during the prior incubation, followed by appropriate dilution, greatly enhanced the activity of the two phosphodiesterases. The phosphodiesterase activation in vitro was inhibited by a non-hydrolysable analogue of ATP, AMP-PNP. Since the cGMP-binding phosphodiesterase activity is enhanced by the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase in the presence of MIX and absence of cAMP, the effect of MIX cannot be explained in terms of the protection of cAMP from hydrolysis. It is possible that the xanthine increases the susceptibility of the cAMP-specific and cGMP-binding phosphodiesterases to phosphorylation.

1-Methyl-3-isobutylxanthine↗

Effect of enalapril on renin, angiotensin converting enzyme activity, aldosterone and prostaglandins in patients with hypertension.

Enalapril (MK-421) was administered orally as a single dose of 2.5, 5.0, 10 and 20 mg to 13 patients with either essential or renovascular hypertension. At these doses, enalapril produced a moderate reduction in both supine and standing blood pressure as well as a significant reduction in angiotensin I-converting enzyme activity, an increase in peripheral plasma renin activity and a decrease in plasma aldosterone concentration 4 to 8 hours after administration of the drug. Plasma levels of prostaglandins E1 and E2 were unchanged. The calculated ratio of urinary Na/K was increased in the patients with renal artery stenosis after enalapril. Creatinine clearance was increased in the patients with essential hypertension and reduced in the patients with renal artery stenosis. No adverse effects occurred in these patients treated with single doses of enalapril.

Adult↗

Effect of plasma, serum and platelets from diabetics on DNA synthesis in cultured vascular smooth muscle cells.

Abnormalities in the regulation of proliferation of vascular smooth muscle are believed to be involved in the development of atherosclerosis. This study addresses the question of whether altered levels or activity of circulating factors in diabetes may influence the growth of vascular smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts. Plasma prepared from a group of patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus was less capable of stimulating DNA synthesis in cultured vascular smooth muscle cells and human lung fibroblasts than plasma from control subjects. In contrast a platelet lysate prepared from the same patients caused significantly greater DNA synthesis than did a platelet lysate prepared from the controls. Thus both increased and decreased growth promoting activity exist in diabetes. The end result of these abnormalities may depend on the sensitivity of the target organ and platelet function, but may be related to the increased risk of atherosclerosis amongst the diabetic population.

Animals↗

Effect of native and synthetic atrial natriuretic factor on cyclic GMP.

Mammalian atrial cardiocyte granules contain a potent natriuretic and diuretic peptide. Since cGMP appears to be involved in the modulation of cholinergic and toxin-induced sodium transport, we examined the effect of atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) on this nucleotide. Atrial but not ventricular extracts elicited approximately a 28-fold increase of urinary cGMP excretion parallel to the natriuresis and diuresis. The atrial extracts also elevated cGMP levels in kidney slices and primary cultures of renal tubular cells. The effect of ANF on cGMP appeared to be specific since antibodies which were capable of inhibiting the ANF-induced diuresis also suppressed cGMP excretion. Furthermore, during the course of ANF purification, the ANF-induced increase of cGMP production by kidney cells paralleled the heightened specific natriuretic activity of the atrial factor. A synthetic peptide (8-33)-ANF similarly increased urinary plasma and kidney tubular cGMP levels. The exact mechanism of action of ANF on cGMP remains to be elucidated, but indirect inhibition of cGMP phosphodiesterase appears to participate in its effect.

3',5'-Cyclic-AMP Phosphodiesterases↗