Atherosclerosis, in its myriad incarnations the foremost killer disease in the industrialized world, is characterized by aberrant proliferation of vascular smooth muscle (VSM) cells in part as a result of the recruitment of inflammatory cells to the blood vessel wall. The epoxyeicosatrienoic acids are synthesized from arachidonic acid in a reaction catalyzed by the cytochrome P450 system and are vasoactive substances. Metabolism of these compounds by epoxide hydrolases results in the formation of compounds that affect the vasculature in a pleiotropic manner. As an outgrowth of our observations that urea inhibitors of the soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) reduce blood pressure in spontaneously hypertensive rats as well as the findings of other investigators that these compounds possess antiinflammatory actions, we have examined the effect of sEH inhibitors on VSM cell proliferation. We now show that the sEH inhibitor 1-cyclohexyl-3-dodecyl urea (CDU) inhibits human VSM cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner and is associated with a decrease in the level of cyclin D1. In addition, cis-epoxyeicosatrienoic acid mimics the growth-suppressive activity of CDU; there is no evidence of cellular toxicity or apoptosis in CDU-treated cells when incubated with 20 μM CDU for up to 48 h. These results, in light of the antiinflammatory and antihypertensive properties of these compounds that have been demonstrated already, suggest that the urea class of sEH inhibitors may be useful for therapy for diseases such as hypertension and atherosclerosis characterized by exuberant VSM cell proliferation and vascular inflammation

Transient exposure to ANG II results in the development of salt-sensitive hypertension in rats. This study was performed to determine whether a transient hypertensive episode can induce salt-sensitive hypertension in transgenic rats with inducible expression of the mouse Ren2 renin gene [strain name TGR(Cyp1a1-Ren2)]. Systolic blood pressures were measured in conscious male Cyp1a1-Ren2 rats (n = 6) during control conditions and during dietary administration of indole-3-carbinol (I3C; 0.15%, wt/wt), for 14 days. Systolic pressure increased from 135 +/- 5 to 233 +/- 7 mmHg by day 14. I3C administration was terminated and blood pressure returned to normal levels (137 +/- 5 mmHg) within 10 days. Subsequently, the rats were placed on a high-salt diet (8% NaCl) for 10 days. Systolic pressure increased by 34 +/- 2 mmHg throughout 10 days of the high-salt diet. Neither glomerular filtration rate nor renal plasma flow was altered in Cyp1a1-Ren2 rats with salt-sensitive hypertension. In a separate group of male Cyp1a1-Ren2 rats (n = 6) transiently induced with 0.15% I3C for 14 days, administration of the superoxide dismutase mimetic tempol (4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl piperidinoxyl, 2 mM) attenuated the increase in systolic pressure induced by high salt. Systolic pressure increased by only 11 +/- 1 mmHg throughout 8 days of a high-salt diet and tempol administration. Thus transient induction of ANG II-dependent hypertension via activation of the Cyp1a1-Ren2 transgene induces salt-sensitive hypertension in these transgenic rats. The attenuation by tempol of the high salt-induced blood pressure elevation indicates that ANG II-induced production of superoxide anion contributes to the development of salt-sensitive hypertension after transient induction of ANG II-dependent hypertension.

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