Association of arterial stiffness with single nucleotide polymorphism rs1333049 and metabolic risk factors

The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.cardiab.com/content/12/1/93. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.BACKGROUND: Increased arterial stiffness is a cardiovascular outcome of metabolic syndrome (MetS). The chromosome 9p21 locus has been identified as a major locus for risk of coronary artery disease (CAD). The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), rs1333049 on chromosome 9p21.3 has been strongly associated with CAD and myocardial infarction. Increased arterial stiffness could be the link between the 9p21 polymorphism and increased cardiovascular risk. Since the impact of a genetic polymorphism on arterial stiffness especially in Asian populations has not been well defined, we aimed to investigate the association of arterial stiffness with rs 1333049 variant on chromosome 9p21.3 in Thai subjects with and without MetS risk factors. METHODS: A total of 208 Thai subjects, aged 35-75 years, 135 with and 73 without MetS, according to IDF and NCEP-ATPIII criteria, were included in this study. Aortic-femoral pulse wave velocity (afPWV), brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and aortic ankle pulse wave velocity (aaPWV) were measured and used as markers of arterial stiffness. The chromosome 9p21.3 locus, represented by the rs 1333049 variant and blood biochemistry were evaluated. RESULTS: Arterial stiffness was elevated in subjects with MetS when compared with nonMetS subjects. PWV, especially afPWV increased progressively with increasing number of MetS risk factors (r = 0.322, P <0.001). We also found that the frequency distribution of the rs1333049 genotypes is significantly associated with the afPWV (P <0.05). In multivariate analyses, there was an association between homozygous C allele and afPWV (Odds ratio (OR), 8.16; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.91 to 34.90; P = 0.005), while the GC genotype was not related to afPWV (OR, 1.79; 95% CI, 0.84 to 3.77; P = 0.129) when compared with the GG genotype. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate for the first time that arterial stiffness is associated with genetic polymorphism in 9p21 and metabolic risk factors in a Thai population

Raised tone reveals ATP as a sympathetic neurotransmitter in the porcine mesenteric arterial bed

The relative importance of ATP as a functional sympathetic neurotransmitter in blood vessels has been shown to be increased when the level of preexisting vascular tone or pressure is increased, in studies carried out in rat mesenteric arteries. The aim of the present study was to determine whether tone influences the involvement of ATP as a sympathetic cotransmitter with noradrenaline in another species. We used the porcine perfused mesenteric arterial bed and porcine mesenteric large, medium and small arteries mounted for isometric tension recording, because purinergic cotransmission can vary depending on the size of the blood vessel. In the perfused mesenteric bed at basal tone, sympathetic neurogenic vasocontractile responses were abolished by prazosin, an α1- adrenoceptor antagonist, but there was no significant effect of α,β-methylene ATP, a P2X receptor-desensitizing agent. Submaximal precontraction of the mesenteric arterial bed with U46619, a thromboxane A2 mimetic, augmented the sympathetic neurogenic vasocontractile responses; under these conditions, both α,β-methylene ATP and prazosin attenuated the neurogenic responses. In the mesenteric large, medium and small arteries, prazosin attenuated the sympathetic neurogenic contractile responses under conditions of both basal and U46619-raised tone. α,β-Methylene ATP was effective in all of these arteries only under conditions of U46619- induced tone, causing a similar inhibition in all arteries, but had no significant effect on sympathetic neurogenic contractions at basal tone. These data show thatATP is a cotransmitter with noradrenaline in porcine mesenteric arteries; the purinergic component was revealed under conditions of partial precontraction, which is more relevant to physiological conditions

Pre-contraction with the thromboxane-mimetic U46619 enhances P2X receptor-mediated contractions in isolated porcine splenic artery

We have previously demonstrated that the thromboxane-mimetic U46619 enhances α2-adrenoceptor-mediated contractions through increased activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK). In this study, we determined whether U46619 also enhances P2X-mediated contractions through the same pathway. Segments of porcine splenic artery were mounted in isolated tissue baths. Tissues were pre-contracted with U46619 to 10–20% of the response to 60 mM KCl prior to addition of α,β-methylene ATP (P2X receptor agonist). The effect of inhibition of ERK activation with the mitogen-activated protein (MAP)/ERK kinase inhibitor PD98059 (50 μM), Rho kinase inhibition with Y27632 (10 μM), p38 MAP kinase with SB203580 (10 μM) or l-type calcium channels with nifedipine (1 μM) on both the direct and enhanced contractions was then determined. U46619 enhanced the contractions to α,β-methylene ATP. Although PD98059 inhibited the direct contractions to α,β-methylene ATP, it had no effect on the U46619-enhanced contractions. Similarly, Y27632 and SB203580 inhibited the direct contractions to α,β-methylene ATP, but had no effect on the enhanced contractions. Nifedipine inhibited the responses to α,β-methylene ATP in the absence and presence of U46619. This study demonstrates that pre-contraction with U46619 enhances P2X-mediated contractions in the porcine splenic artery through a mechanism independent of ERK, Rho kinase and p38 MAP kinase. Further studies are required to determine the exact mechanism involved

Rice bran protein hydrolysates reduce arterial stiffening, vascular remodeling and oxidative stress in rats fed a high-carbohydrate and high-fat diet

This study was supported by grants from the Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, the Agricultural Research Development Agency, the National Research Council of Thailand and the Thailand Research Fund. Ketmanee Senaphan was supported by a scholarship (PHD/0048/2553) from the Royal Golden Jubilee PhD Program, the Thailand Research Fund