This study was designed to determine the age-related changes in the endothelium-dependent hyperpolarization to acetylcholine (ACh) and its contribution to relaxation in the isolated mesenteric artery from normotensive and hypertensive rats. Membrane potentials and contractions were recorded in arteries from male Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) that were 5-6 wk old (young), 6-8 mo old (adult), and 20-26 mo old (aged). Endothelium-dependent hyperpolarizations produced by ACh, applied both at the resting state of the membrane and under conditions of depolarization with norepinephrine (10(-5) M), were markedly impaired in aged WKY rats, adult SHR, and aged SHR. Endothelium-dependent relaxations to ACh in arterial rings precontracted with 10(-5) M norepinephrine were also impaired in aged WKY rats, adult SHR, and aged SHR even in the presence of indomethacin. Furthermore, in these rats, N omega-nitro-L-arginine, an inhibitor of nitric oxide formation, showed potent inhibitory effects on the relaxations, whereas the 20 mM high K+ solution that reduces hyperpolarization had less pronounced effects. Hyperpolarizations and relaxations to cromakalim (10(-5) M), a K(+)-channel opener, were on the whole preserved in aged rats. It would thus appear that the endothelium-dependent hyperpolarization to ACh is reduced with aging as well as by hypertension, and this would, in part, account for the impaired relaxation to ACh in arteries of both aged rats and hypertensive rats.

After successful subtotal parathyroidectomy (PTX) in 10 chronic haemodialysis patients, significant elevation of Epo was observed, from 48.4 +/- 17.8 mU/ml(M +/- SEM) at preoperative state to 103.3 +/- 34.7 mU/ml at 6 h and 163.4 +/- 50.2 mU/ml at 12 h after PTX. Significant reductions in both PTH-m and ionized calcium (iCa) were confirmed. Since Epo did not increase in the cases with an inadequate PTX and ovariectomy, an abrupt reduction in PTH with a decrease in iCa may play some role in the elevation of Epo.

To reveal the importance of lysoposphatidylcholine (LPC) in patients with Type 2 diabetes (DM), LPC in low density lipoprotein (LDL) was determined by high performance liquid chromatography in 38 patients with Type 2 DM and 31 age and sex-matched non-diabetic controls. Stearoyl LPC (SLPC) and palmitoyl LPC (PLPC) were detected in LDL. The contents of both LPCs per gram protein in LDL were increased in diabetic patients compared with the non-diabetics (1.99+/-0.94mg SLPC and 3.02+/-1.81 mg PLPC vs 1.47+/-0.57 mg SLPC and 2.30+/-0.83 mg PLPC, mean +/- SD, p < 0.01 and p < 0.05, respectively). PLPC showed a weak correlation with the levels of fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and HbA1c (r=0.27 and r=0.33, p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively). The diabetic patients with macroangiopathy showed higher levels of PLPC per gram protein compared to those without macroangiopathy (4.60+/-2.61 mg vs 2.53+/1.15 mg, respectively, p < 0.05). The LPC molecular species may participate in the atherogenicity of LDL in patients with Type 2 diabetes.

Lipid metabolism was examined in patients with hyper- or hypothyroidism. Compared with corresponding age and sex matched controls, serum total cholesterol (T-chol), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-chol), phospholipid (PL) and LDL levels were significantly low and free fatty acid (FFA) levels were high with apparently normal triglyceride (TG), very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-chol) levels in 61 hyperthyroid patients, while T-chol, LDL-chol, TG, PL, VLDL and LDL levels were high with normal FFA and HDL-chol levels in 31 hypothyroid patients. Serum lipid levels were then repeatedly measured in 7 men and 7 women with hyperthyroid Graves' disease before treatment (stage I), just after the patients became euthyroid with anti-thyroid drug (stage II) and more than 2 months after the patients remained euthyroid (stage III). Serum T-chol, LDL-chol, PL and LDL levels were low at stage I, significantly elevated at stage II and then normalized at stage III. Transient but significant elevation of serum TG, VLDL and HDL-chol levels at stage II were also observed in men. Accelerated catabolism and anabolism of lipid has been reported in hyperthyroidism. Transient elevation of serum lipid levels suggests a more rapid improvement in catabolism than in anabolism of lipid in an early stage of the medical treatment for hyperthyroidism.