Sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) and high pressure baroreceptor regulation of SNA were studied in the Okamoto strain of spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR). Mean arterial pressure (MAP) and SNA were not significantly affected by anesthesia with low doses of pentobarbital (20-25 mg/kg). Thus, most of these studies were performed in anesthetized rats. SNA in visceral sympathetic nerves increased rapidly with age up to 24 weeks and slowly thereafter. MAP increased with SNA, following the same time course. Both SNA and MAP in SHR were significantly greater than that found in normotensive Wistar control rats of comparable ages. Abolition of ganglionic transmission with hexamethonium in both SHR and normotensive controls reduced postganglionic SNA and MAP to comparable levels. In SHR less than 16 weeks old, increased baroreceptor stimulation effectively inhibited SNA with the same sensitivity as found in Wistar control rats. However, older SHR appeared to lose their ability to completely inhibit SNA during induced hypertension, whereas in Wistar control rats as old as 52 weeks, elevation of blood pressure to 165.3 +/- 2.3 mm Hg completely suppressed SNA. These results suggest that SNA may play an important role in the development and maintenance of hypertension in SHR, and that central sympathetic centers, uninhibited by baroreceptor afferents, become active during the development of hypertension in the SHR.

Prolongation of relaxation is a hallmark of diabetic cardiomyopathy. Most studies attribute this defect to decreases in sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum Ca 2؉ -ATPase (SERCA2a) expression and SERCA2a-to-phospholamban (PLB) ratio. Since its turnover rate is slow, SERCA2a is susceptible to posttranslational modifications during diabetes. These modifications could in turn compromise conformational rearrangements needed to translocate calcium ions, also leading to a decrease in SERCA2a activity. In the present study one such modification was investigated, namely advanced glycation end products (AGEs). Hearts from 8-week streptozotocin-induced diabetic (8D) rats showed typical slowing in relaxation, confirming cardiomyopathy. Hearts from 8D animals also expressed lower levels of SERCA2a protein and higher levels of PLB. Analysis of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass data files from trypsin-digested SERCA2a revealed several cytosolic SERCA2a peptides from 8D modified by single noncrosslinking AGEs. Crosslinked AGEs were also found. Lysine residues within actuator and phosphorylation domains were cross-linked to arginine residues within the nucleotide binding domain via pentosidine AGEs. Two weeks of insulin-treatment initiated after 6 weeks of diabetes attenuated these changes. These data demonstrate for the first time that AGEs are formed on SERCA2a during diabetes, suggesting a novel mechanism by which cardiac relaxation can be slowed during diabetes. Diabetes 53: [463][464][465][466][467][468][469][470][471][472][473] 2004 R eductions in rate and force of cardiac contractions are root causes for the increased incidence of morbidity and mortality among diabetic patients (1-3). Studies show that this "diabetic cardiomyopathy" is independent of coronary vascular diseases and is brought about by shifts in metabolism, cellular biochemistry, and structure (4 -8). At the molecular level, decreases in chronotropy and inotropy result from alterations in expression and/or function of several sarcolemmal membrane receptors and associated signal transduction proteins as well as other key proteins involved in regulating/maintaining intracellular ionic homeostasis (9 -11). Of particular interest is a transport protein on the sarcoplasmic reticular membrane that plays an integral role in cardiac relaxation. This protein, referred to as sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum Ca 2ϩ -ATPase (SERCA2a), is responsible for replenishing intracellular calcium stores following release and in so doing terminate contraction.SERCA2a is a member of a large family of P-type ATPase enzymes that utilizes the energy generated from hydrolysis of terminal phosphate bond of ATP to pump calcium against its electrochemical gradient (12,13). SERCA1a is the best studied of these single polypeptides. It consists of 10 transmembrane helixes (M1 through M10) and three cytoplasmic domains, referred to as A (actuator), N (nucleotide binding) and P (phosphorylation) domains (14). Translocation of calcium ions from the cytosol to the lumen of...

We have examined the effects of a number of derivatives of ryanodine on K+ conduction in the Ca2+ release channel purified from sheep cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). In a fashion comparable to that of ryanodine, the addition of nanomolar to micromolar quantities to the cytoplasmic face (the exact amount depending on the derivative) causes the channel to enter a state of reduced conductance that has a high open probability. However, the amplitude of that reduced conductance state varies between the different derivatives. In symmetrical 210 mM K+, ryanodine leads to a conductance state with an amplitude of 56.8 +/- 0.5% of control, ryanodol leads to a level of 69.4 +/- 0.6%, ester A ryanodine modifies to one of 61.5 +/- 1.4%, 9,21-dehydroryanodine to one of 58.3 +/- 0.3%, 9 beta,21beta-epoxyryanodine to one of 56.8 +/- 0.8%, 9-hydroxy-21-azidoryanodine to one of 56.3 +/- 0.4%, 10-pyrroleryanodol to one of 52.2 +/- 1.0%, 3-epiryanodine to one of 42.9 +/- 0.7%, CBZ glycyl ryanodine to one of 29.4 +/- 1.0%, 21-p-nitrobenzoyl-amino-9-hydroxyryanodine to one of 26.1 +/- 0.5%, beta-alanyl ryanodine to one of 14.3 +/- 0.5%, and guanidino-propionyl ryanodine to one of 5.8 +/- 0.1% (chord conductance at +60 mV, +/- SEM). For the majority of the derivatives the effect is irreversible within the lifetime of a single-channel experiment (up to 1 h). However, for four of the derivatives, typified by ryanodol, the effect is reversible, with dwell times in the substate lasting tens of seconds to minutes. The effect caused by ryanodol is dependent on transmembrane voltage, with modification more likely to occur and lasting longer at +60 than at -60 mV holding potential. The addition of concentrations of ryanodol insufficient to cause modification does not lead to an increase in single-channel open probability, such as has been reported for ryanodine. At concentrations of > or = 500 mu M, ryanodine after initial rapid modification of the channel leads to irreversible closure, generally within a minute. In contrast, comparable concentrations of beta-alanyl ryanodine do not cause such a phenomenon after modification, even after prolonged periods of recording (>5 min). The implications of these results for the site(s) of interaction with the channel protein and mechanism of the action of ryanodine are discussed. Changes in the structure of ryanodine can lead to specific changes in the electrophysiological consequences of the interaction of the alkaloid with the sheep cardiac SR Ca2+ release channel.

The purpose of this study was to examine the mechanisms underlying adrenergiccholinergic antagonism in ventricular myocardium. Myocardial contractility, cyclic adenosine monophosphate (AMP) levels, and cyclic guanosine monophosphate (GMP) levels were measured in isolated guinea pig ventricles after treatment with various inotropic agents given alone and simultaneously with acetylcholine. Acetylcholine alone markedly elevated cyclic GMP levels but did not substantially change myocardial contractility. However, the same concentration of acetylcholine significantly attenuated the inotropic effect of isoproterenol and histamine, two drugs that may act by increasing myocardial levels of cyclic AMP. The decrease in the inotropic response to isoproterenol did not appear to be due to a decrease in the generation of cyclic AMP, because cyclic AMP levels were similar in hearts receiving isoproterenol alone and those receiving isoproterenol with acetylcholine. Dibutyryl cyclic GMP also antagonized the inotropic action of isoproterenol. Acetylcholine did not alter the inotropic effects of ouabain, an agent that increases myocardial contractility without changing cyclic AMP levels. These results suggest that cyclic GMP mediates the antiadrenergic effects of acetylcholine by specifically antagonizing the inotropic actions of cyclic AMP.• Histological studies done since the early 1960s have documented the presence of cholinergic innervation in the ventricular myocardium (1, 2). In addition, a number of physiological experiments have demonstrated that stimulation of vagal nerves or administration of cholinergic drugs can depress, although often minimally, the contractile state of the ventricle (3-7). The ventricular depressant effect of the cholinergic system appears to be enhanced in the presence of adrenergic stimulation (8-13). This complex interaction between adrenergic and cholinergic effects on the heart, in which the cholinergic depressant action is magnified during sympathetic stimulation, has been termed accentuated antagonism by Levy (14).Several studies, all done with broken cell preparations or tissue slices, have also shown that cholinergic drugs can attenuate catecholamineinduced increases in cyclic adenosine monophosphate (AMP) levels in cardiac tissues (15,16 attenuation of the amount of cyclic AMP generated has logically been proposed as the mechanism, at the subcellular level, for the antagonism between the adrenergic and the cholinergic systems. With the recent demonstration that the level of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (GMP) in the myocardium is increased after cholinergic stimulation (16,17), it became of interest to investigate whether the interaction of the adrenergic and cholinergic systems at the subcellular level of the heart is occurring between cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP. The series of experiments reported in this paper was performed with the objective of attempting to correlate the contractile state of intact ventricular muscle with induced changes in cyclic nucleotide (cyclic AMP and cycl...

Decrease in cardiac contractility is a hallmark of chronic diabetes. Previously we showed that this defect results, at least in part, from a dysfunction of the type 2 ryanodine receptor calcium-release channel (RyR2). The mechanism(s) underlying RyR2 dysfunction is not fully understood. The present study was designed to determine whether non-cross-linking advanced glycation end products (AGEs) on RyR2 increase with chronic diabetes and if formation of these post-translational complexes could be attenuated with insulin treatment. Overnight digestion of RyR2 from 8-week control animals (8C) with trypsin afforded 298 peptides with monoisotopic mass (M؉H ؉ ) >500. Digestion of RyR2 from 8-week streptozotocin-induced diabetic animals (8D) afforded 21% fewer peptides, whereas RyR2 from 6-week diabetic/2-week insulin-treated animals generated 304 peptides. Using an in-house PERLscript algorithm, search of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass data files identified several M؉H ؉ peaks corresponding to theoretical RyR2 peptides with single N ⑀ -(carboxymethyl)-lysine, imidazolone A, imidazone B, pyrraline, or 1-alkyl-2-formyl-3,4-glycosyl pyrrole modification that were present in 8D but not 8C. Insulin treatment minimized production of some of these nonenzymatic glycation products. These data show for the first time that AGEs are formed on intracellular RyR2 during diabetes. Because AGE complexes are known to compromise protein activity, these data suggest a potential mechanism for diabetesinduced RyR2 dysfunction. Diabetes 52:1825-1836, 2003 A significant percentage of patients with diabetes (both type 1 and type 2) develop a unique cardiomyopathy that is independent of coronary atherosclerosis (1-3). This "diabetic cardiomyopathy" as it is termed starts off with asymptomatic left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (slowing of relaxation kinetics). As the disease progresses, systolic function becomes compromised, leading to an increase in incidence of morbidity and mortality (4 -6).The release of calcium ions from internal sarcoplasmic reticulum via the type 2 ryanodine receptor calciumrelease channel (RyR2) is an integral step in the cascade of events leading to cardiac muscle contraction (7). We and others have shown that expression of this protein decreases in hearts of chronic diabetic patients (8,9) as well as in the streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats (10 -13). Using the latter model, we found that in addition to a decrease in expression of RyR2, its functional integrity is also compromised in diabetes (14,15). This dysfunction is manifested as a decrease in RyR2 ability to bind the specific ligand [ 3 H]ryanodine and a slowing in its electrophoretic mobility using denaturing SDS-PAGE.Two distinct and separate types of post-translational modifications are likely to be induced by diabetes. First, it is well known that metabolic changes brought about by diabetes increase production of reactive oxygen species (e.g., -18]). These free radical and nonradical species react with several a...