Placental growth factor levels in quadriceps muscle are reduced by a Western diet in association with advanced glycation end products.

In peripheral artery disease (PAD), atherosclerotic occlusion chronically impairs limb blood flow. Arteriogenesis (collateral artery remodeling) is a vital adaptive response to PAD that protects tissue from ischemia. People with type II diabetes have a high risk of developing PAD and would benefit from arteriogenesis. However, arteriogenesis is suppressed in people with diabetes by a multifaceted mechanism which remains incompletely defined. Upregulation of placental growth factor (PLGF) is a key early step in arteriogenesis. Therefore, we hypothesized that metabolic dysfunction would impair PLGF expression in skeletal muscle. We tested this hypothesis in C57BL/6J and ApoE-/- mice of both sexes fed a Western diet (WD) for 24 wk. We first assessed baseline levels of PLGF, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF-A), and VEGF receptor 1 (VEGFR1) protein in hindlimb skeletal muscle. Only PLGF was consistently decreased by the WD. We next investigated the effect of 24 wk of the WD on the response of PLGF, VEGF-A, VEGFR1, and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) to the physiological stimulus of vascular occlusion. Hindlimb ischemia was induced in mice by gradual femoral artery occlusion using an ameroid constrictor. Growth factor levels were measured 3-28 days postsurgery. In C57BL/6J mice, the WD decreased and delayed upregulation of PLGF and abolished upregulation of VEGF-A and VEGFR1 but had no effect on MCP-1. In ApoE-/- mice fed either diet, all factors tested failed to respond to occlusion. Metabolic phenotyping of mice and in vitro studies suggest that an advanced glycation end product/TNFα-mediated mechanism could contribute to the effects observed in vivo.NEW & NOTEWORTHY In this study, we tested the effect of a Western diet on expression of the arteriogenic growth factor placental growth factor (PLGF) in mouse skeletal muscle. We provide the first demonstration that a Western diet interferes with both baseline expression and hindlimb ischemia-induced upregulation of PLGF. We further identify a potential role for advanced glycation end product/TNFα signaling as a negative regulator of PLGF. These studies provide insight into one possible mechanism by which type II diabetes may limit collateral growth.

Altered Flow Changes Thrombin Generation Rate of Circulating Platelets.

Shear stress affects platelet participation in coagulation. Many numerical models have been developed to describe coagulation kinetics. However, most of those models used rate constants determined under static conditions. Little is known about the effects of flow on coagulation rate constants. In the present study, platelets were exposed to constant or pulsatile shear stress/rate, with or without prothrombin, factor Xa, and factor Va. Thrombin generation was measured using a modified prothrombinase assay, and the overall thrombin generation rate was solved using typical Michaelis-Menten kinetics. Platelet surface P-selectin and phosphatidylserine (PS) expression was measured using flow cytometry. The results demonstrated that the concentration of factor Va had a dominant effect on thrombin generation rate under flow. In comparison, the expression of PS was less sensitive to altered flow. The lumped overall rate constant for prothrombin conversion to thrombin was significantly affected by the shear forces that were applied to the coagulation complex. Constant shear stress/rate induced faster thrombin generation compared to pulsatile shear stress/rate, but elevated shear stress/rate did not necessarily enhance thrombin generation. Therefore, the overall thrombin generation rate is dynamic and must be described as a function of shear stress/rate, shear exposure time and the immediate availability of coagulation proteins.