Effects of endothelin ETA receptor antagonism with PD 156707 on hemodynamics and renal vascular resistance in rabbits.

The objective of this study was to determine the in vivo effectiveness of the selective endothelin ETA receptor antagonist PD 156707 (sodium 2-benzo[1,3]dioxol-5-yl-4-(4-methoxy-phenyl)-4-oxo-3-(3,4,5-trimet hoxy- benzyl)-but-2-enoate). Effectiveness was defined by the ability of the compound to block increases in renal vascular resistance and mean arterial blood pressure induced by an intravenous bolus of 0.3 nmol/kg of human endothelin-1 in pentobarbital anesthetized rabbits. Different groups of rabbits received hour long intravenous infusions of PD 156707 at doses of 0.003, 0.01, 0.03 or 0.3 mg/kg per h. During baseline conditions, mean arterial blood pressure, heart rate, renal blood flow, and renal vascular resistance were similar among the groups. The intravenous bolus of endothelin-1 significantly decreased mean arterial blood pressure (82 +/- 3 mmHg to 65 +/- 3 mmHg, P < 0.05) and increased renal vascular resistance (2.8 +/- 0.3 mmHg/ml per min to 9.2 +/- 1.1 mmHg/ml per min, P < 0.05) in untreated control animals. At doses of 0.3 and 0.03 mg/kg per h, PD 156707 virtually abolished endothelin-1 induced increases in renal vascular resistance, but did not affect the endothelin-1 induced decrease in mean arterial blood pressure. At 0.01 and 0.003 mg/kg per h, PD 156707 also inhibited endothelin-1 induced increases in renal vascular resistance but the effects were less striking, leading to the conclusion that the minimum effective intravenous dose of the compound in rabbits is in the range of 0.01-0.03 mg/kg per h. The results of this study demonstrate that PD 156707 is an extremely potent and highly selective endothelin ETA receptor antagonist. In addition, this study demonstrates the utility of renal vascular resistance as an in vivo bioassay for evaluating the selective vascular effects of endothelin receptor antagonists in this species.

Heat stress increases cardiac HSP72i but fails to reduce myocardial infarct size in rabbits 24 hours later.

Recent reports suggest that delayed myocardial protection ("second window of preconditioning") occurs 24 hours after brief ischemic or thermal stress. In order to test this hypothesis, we subjected New Zealand White rabbits to a heating regimen (42 degrees C for 15-20 minutes). Twenty four hours later, the effect of heat stress on infarct size was determined by conducting a 30 minute ischemia/3 hour reperfusion protocol. In a separate group of rabbits, Western blot analysis was used to verify that the heating regimen increased expression of HSP72i. The size of the region at risk was delineated by infusion of Unisperse blue and infarcted myocardium was identified by incubation of left ventricular slices in triphenyl tetrazolium chloride. In contrast to expectations, induction of HSP72i with thermal stress was not effective in limiting infarct size in rabbits 24 hours later, calling into question the concept that heat stress induces delayed or "second window" myocardial protection.

Reduction of canine myocardial infarct size by CI-959, an inhibitor of inflammatory cell activation.

CI-959, a cell-activation inhibitor that prevents the formation of oxygen-derived free radicals by inflammatory cells, was studied to determine its effects on myocardial infarct size and subsequent scar formation in dogs. The left circumflex coronary artery was occluded for 90 min, followed by 6 h of reperfusion. Drug infusion was started 15 min before reperfusion at a loading dose of 8 mg/kg i.v., followed immediately by 2 mg/kg i.v. infused over 80 min. The infarct size, assessed by TTC staining techniques, was significantly reduced in 12 dogs treated with CI-959 (23.3 +/- 3.6% of the area at risk) when compared to 11 vehicle-treated animals (35.5 +/- 4% of the area at risk, p less than 0.05). This reduction in infarct size was not attributed to changes in regional myocardial blood flow, as measured by radioactive microspheres, or to a reduction in myocardial oxygen demand, as estimated by changes in the rate-pressure product. The scar thickness, measured after a 6-week recovery period in 9 animals treated with CI-959, was not significantly reduced in comparison with 11 controls. In vitro, CI-959 effectively inhibited oxygen free radical formation by canine neutrophils. The results of this study show that CI-959 significantly reduces the myocardial infarct size without causing scar thinning, which might lead to ventricular aneurysm, and suggests the most likely mechanism for its beneficial action is the prevention of formation of toxic oxygen radicals.

Studies on coronary arteriopathy in dogs following administration of CI-1020, an endothelin A receptor antagonist.

A selective nonpeptide endothelin A (ETA) receptor antagonist, CI-1020, was administered to beagle dogs intravenously (i.v.) for 4 hours to 4 weeks. One animal/sex received CI-1020 at 1 mg/kg/hr intravenously for 4, 8, or 24 hours to investigate onset of arteriopathy. Control animals (1/sex) received the vehicle only. To determine reversibility of arteriopathy, 8 dogs/sex were given CI-1020 at 1 mg/kg/hr for 4 days. Two dogs/sex were sacrificed 1, 3, 8, and 29 days following cessation of infusion. Lesion development with prolonged exposure was investigated in 1 male dog. It was given CI-1020 by i.v. bolus at 120 mg/kg/day for 4 weeks and Monastral blue dye was administered i.v. to facilitate localization of vascular lesions. Coronary blood flow was determined in 4 dogs infused with CI-1020 at 0.3, 3, and 30 mg/kg for one hour at each dose. Macroscopically, hemorrhage or blue discoloration of Monastral blue was noted in the extramural coronary arteries along the coronary groove and atrium. Histologically, the earliest coronary changes were noted in animals sacrificed after 24 hours of treatment and characterized by medial hemorrhage and necrosis with a few infiltrating neutrophils. In the reversibility study, incidence and severity of arteriopathy was dependent on time of sacrifice following cessation of infusion. Acute necrotizing inflammation of arteries was present in all animals (n = 4) on day 1 postinfusion, whereas on day 8 postinfusion, lesions characterized by medial small pockets of trapped red cells, cell debris, and adventitial thickening were seen in 1 dog/sex. By day 29 postinfusion, coronary arteries were similar to controls. In the dog given daily i.v. bolus injections of CI-1020 for 4 weeks, arterial inflammatory lesions varied from acute to chronic, although most lesions were considered chronic active. Monastral blue pigments were noted in the wall of most arteries with chronic or chronic active lesions. Acute lesions were similar to those noted in day 1 postinfusion of the reversibility study. Medial smooth muscle necrosis and/or fibrosis with mixed inflammatory cell infiltrates characterized chronic or chronic active lesions. Smooth muscle proliferation and migration into the intima were also noted. There were no significant changes in coronary blood flow, coronary vascular resistance, or mean arterial blood pressure following CI-1020 infusion for 3 hours. In the 24-hour infusion study, plasma endothelin 1 (ET-1) levels were mildly elevated (1.5-4 fold) during CI-1020 infusion when compared to either pretest or control values. These results indicate that administration of endothelin antagonist (CI-1020) to dogs was associated with development of coronary arteriopathy, which was completely resolved within 29 days following cessation of treatment. With prolonged (4-week) CI-1020 treatment, arterial lesions at varying stages of development (acute, chronic active, chronic) were seen, suggesting that tolerance to treatment (up to 4 weeks) does not occur.