Impact of hyperthyroidism and its correction on vascular reactivity in humans .

BACKGROUND: Although thyroid hormone (TH) exerts relevant effects on the cardiovascular system, it is unknown whether TH also regulates vascular reactivity in humans. Methods and Results- We studied 8 patients with hyperthyroidism, basally (H) and 6 months after euthyroidism was restored by methimazole (EU). Thirteen healthy subjects served as control subjects (C). We measured forearm blood flow (FBF) by strain-gauge plethysmography during intrabrachial graded infusion of acetylcholine, sodium nitroprusside (SNP), norepinephrine, and L-NMMA (inhibitor of NO synthesis). Basal FBF (in mL. dL(-1). min(-1)) was markedly higher in H than in C (5.8+/-1.2 and 1.9+/-0.1, respectively; P<0.001) and was close to normal in EU (2.6+/-0.3, P<0.01 versus H). During acetylcholine infusion, FBF increased much more in H (+33+/-5) than in C (+14+/-3, P<0.01 versus H) and in EU (+20+/-5, P=0.01 versus H and P=NS versus C). In contrast, the response to SNP infusion was comparable in the patients and control subjects. During norepinephrine infusion, the fall in FBF was much more pronounced in H (-6+/-1) than in C (-0.7+/-0.3, P<0.005 versus H) and in EU (-1.5+/-0.3, P<0.01 versus H). Finally, inhibition of NO synthesis by L-NMMA decreased FBF by 2.8+/-0.6, 0.61+/-0.7, and 1.4+/-0.3 in H, C, and EU, respectively (H versus C and EU, P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In hyperthyroidism, (1) the marked basal vasodilation is largely accounted for by excessive endothelial NO production, (2) vascular reactivity is exaggerated because of enhanced sensitivity of the endothelial component, (3) the vasoconstrictory response to norepinephrine is potentiated, and (4) this abnormal vascular profile is corrected when euthyroidism is restored by medical therapy. The data demonstrate that vascular endothelium is a specific target of T

The overexpression of asparagine synthetase A from E. coli affects the nitrogen status in leaves of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) and enhances vegetative growth

The asparagine synthetase A (EC 6.3.1.1) of E. coli (AS-A) mainly uses ammonia to produce asparagine, a key nitrogen transporter in plants. The AS-A encoding gene (asnA) was expressed constitutively in lettuce cultivar ‘Cortina’ under the control of pMAC, a chimerical promoter, to induce phenotypical alterations of plant growth and quality as a consequence of nitrogen status changes. Nine fertile transgenic lines harbouring independent T-DNA insertions were recovered. Primary transformants shared new visible traits such as a higher leaf number and wider leaf surface than the wild-type. The progeny of three primary transformants stably maintained these phenotypes, to which the synthesis of both asnA transcript and protein were associated. In pMAC:asnA plants, seed germination, formation and development of leaves, bolting and flowering occurred earlier than non-transformed plants. Twenty-eight days after sowing (das), transgenic plants showed a ca. 1.3 increase of leaf area and dry weight as compared to the wild-type. Moreover, the contents of asparagine, aspartic acid and glutamine, but not that of glutamic acid, of pMAC:asnA young plants (21 das) were greater than the wild-type. The level of total soluble protein was higher in transgenic than in non-transformed leaves borne on plants at 35, 50 and 75 das. A decrease of nitrate was also measured in pMAC:asnA leaves with respect to non-transformed ‘Cortina’, in transgenic populations at 60 das. In pMAC:asnA genotypes, the altered content of nitrogen transport amino acids, the tolerance to increasing doses of ammonium and phosphinothricin indirectly proved the AS-A enzymatic activity in lettuce