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Nitroxyl (HNO) donors have potential benefit in the treatment of heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases. 1-Nitrosocyclohexyl acetate (NCA), a new HNO donor, in contrast to the classic HNO donors Angeli's salt and isopropylamine NONOate, predominantly releases HNO and has a longer halflife. This study investigated the vasodilatative properties of NCA in isolated aortic rings and human platelets and its mechanism of action. NCA was applied on aortic rings isolated from wild-type mice and apolipoprotein E-deficient mice and in endothelial-denuded aortae. The mechanism of action of HNO was examined by applying NCA in the absence and presence of the HNO scavenger glutathione (GSH) and inhibitors of soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC), adenylyl cyclase (AC), calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor (CGRP), and K 1 channels. NCA induced a concentration-dependent relaxation (EC 50 , 4.4 mM). This response did not differ between all groups, indicating an endothelium-independent relaxation effect. The concentration-response was markedly decreased in the presence of excess GSH; the nitric oxide scavenger 2-(4-carboxyphenyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide had no effect. Inhibitors of sGC, CGRP, and voltagedependent K 1 channels each significantly impaired the vasodilator response to NCA. In contrast, inhibitors of AC, ATP-sensitive K 1 channels, or high-conductance Ca 21 -activated K 1 channels did not change the effects of NCA. NCA significantly reduced contractile response and platelet aggregation mediated by the thromboxane A 2 mimetic 9,11-dideoxy-11a,9a-epoxymethanoprostaglandin F 2a in a cGMPdependent manner. In summary, NCA shows vasoprotective effects and may have a promising profile as a therapeutic agent in vascular dysfunction, warranting further evaluation.

Nitrite is being studied as a therapeutic agent for several pathologies, largely due to the demonstration that infusions of nitrite into the human forearm results in increased blood flow. Thus, nitrite may serve as a storage pool for the endothelium derived vasodilator, nitric oxide (NO). Nitrite is known to react with deoxyhemoglobin to form NO, which would need to diffuse from the red blood cells to the smooth muscle cells in order to activate its target enzyme soluble guanylyl cyclase. However, hemoglobin scavenges NO extremely quickly so that NO formed in the red blood cell cannot get out. The export of nitrite-derived NO activity is likely to require the formation of either a diffusible intermediate or alternative species for the transport of NO. One of the suggested intermediates is S-nitrosohemoglobin, small amounts of which have been reported to have formed during nitrite infusion studies. Other investigators recently reported that S-nitrosohemoglobin is directly formed in the reaction of nitrite and hemoglobin via the formation of a quasi-stable Fe(III)NO-hemoglobin intermediate. We have used absorption spectroscopy, electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, and several chemiluminescence-based assays to the nitrite/hemoglobin reaction, focusing on the formation of S-nitrosohemoglobin and other nitroso species such as S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO). We have also developed a sensitive chemiluminescence-based assay to explore Fe(III)NO-Hb formation. We applied these techniques to a variety of conditions, varying oxygen saturation and reactant concentrations in cell-free and red cell encapsulated hemoglobin. Based on our results, we conclude (contrary to several other recent reports) that little or no nitroso species are formed in the reaction of nitrite and hemoglobin at neutral pH (7.4) and a quasi-stable Fe(III)NO-Hb intermediate is also not formed. We find that, under thoroughly deoxygenated conditions, one nitrite molecule results in the formation of one Fe(II)NO-Hb and one MetHb species, with some nitrite bound MetHb being formed subsequently. Importantly, we find that at pH 6.5, significant nitrosation does occur. These data suggest that much or all of the nitroso species measured in nitrite therapeutics may be formed in metabolically active muscle or other tissues of mild acidity.

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