The Change of Vascular Reactivity in Rat Thoracic Aorta 3 Days after Acute Myocardial Infarction

Background: The up-regulation of the nitric oxide (NO)-cGMP pathway might be involved in the change of vascular reactivity in rats 3 days after they suffer acute myocardial infarction. However, the underlying mechanism for this has not been clarified. Material and Method: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) was induced by occluding the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) for 30 min (Group AMI), whereas the sham-operated control rats were treated similarly without LAD occlusion (Group SHAM), The concentration-response relationships for phenylephrine (PE), KCl, acetylcholine (Ach) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) were determined in the endothelium intact E(+) and endothelium denuded E(-) thoracic aortic rings from the rats 3 days after AMI or a SHAM operation. The concentration-response relationships of PE in the E(+) rings from the AMI rats were compared with those relationships in the rings pretreated with nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor $N{\omega}$-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) or the cyclooxygenase inhibitor indomethacin. The plasma nitrite/nitrate concentrations were checked via a Griess reaction. The cyclic GMP content in the thoracic aortic rings was measured by radioimmunoassay and the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) mRNA expression was assessed by real time PCR. Result: The mean infarct size (%) in the rats with AMI was $21.3{\pm}0.62%$. The heart rate and the systolic and diastolic blood pressure were not significantly changed in the AMI rats. The sensitivity of the contractile response to PE and KCl was significantly decreased in both the E(+) and E(-) aortic rings of the AMI group (p<0.05). L-NAME completely reversed these contractile responses whereas indomethacin did not (p<0.05). Moreover, the sensitivity of the relaxation response to Ach was also significantly decreased in the AMI group (p<0.05). The plasma nitrite and nitrate content (p<0.05), the basal cGMP content (p<0.05) and the eNOS mRNA expression (p=0.056) in the AMI rats were increased as compared with the SHAM group. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that the increased eNOS activity and the up-regulation of the NO-cGMP pathway can be attributed to the decreased contractile or relaxation response in the rat thoracic aorta 3 days after AMI.

흰쥐에서 급성심근경색 3일 후 흉부 대동맥 혈관 반응성의 변화

배경: Nitric oxide (NO)-cGMP 신호전달체계의 상향 조절(up-regulation)이 급성심근경색 3일 후 흰쥐의 혈관반응성의 변화에 관여한다고 알려져 있으나 그 기전에 대해서는 명확히 규명되지 않았다. 대상 및 방법: 좌전하행관상동맥을 30분간 폐쇄한 후 급성심근경색을 유도한 군을 AMI군으로, 동일한 모의 수술(sham operation)을 하였으나 관상동맥을 폐쇄하지 않은 군을 SHAM군으로 하였다 AMI 혹은 SHAM수술 3일 후 흰쥐의 대동맥 고리절편(내피를 보존한 대동맥 절편을 E(+), 내피를 제거한 대동맥 절편을 E(-))에서 phenylephrine (PE), KCl, acetylcholine (Ach) 및 sodium nitroprusside (SNP)에 대한 농도-반응 관계를 측정하였다 AMI군의 E(+) 대동맥 절편에서 PE의 농도-반응 관계를 NO synthase (NOS) 억제제인 $N{\omega}$-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME)와 cyclooxygenase 억제제인 indomethacin으로 각각 전처치한 대동맥 절편과 비교하였다. 혈장 nitrite/nitrate 농도는 Griess reaction으로 측정하였고, 방사면역 분석법을 이용한 흉부 대동맥 절편의 cGMP정량과 real time PCR을 이용한 endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) mRNA 발현양상 측정을 하였다. 결과: AMI군에서의 심근경색의 평균 크기는 $21.3{\pm}0.62%$였다. AMI군에서 심박수와 수축기 및 이완기 혈압은 의미있는 변화가 없었다. E(+)와 E(-) 대동맥 절편에서 PE와 KCl에 대한 수축반응의 민감도는 AMI군 대동맥 절편에서 의미 있게 감소하였다(p<0.05). L-NAME은 이러한 수축반응을 완전하게 역전시켰으나 indomethacin은 효과가 없었다(p<0.05). 또한 AMI군에서 Ach에 대한 이완반응의 민감도가 의미 있게 감소하였다(p<0.05). AMI군에서 SHAM군에 비해 혈장 nitrite/nitrate 농도(p<0.05), 기저 cGMP 농도(p<0.05), 및 eNOS mRNA 발현양상(p=0.056)이 증가하였다. 결론: 이상의 결과들로 보아 eNOS의 발현 증가와 NO-cGMP 신호전달체계의 상향조절이 급성심근경색 3일 후 흰쥐 흉부대동맥에서의 수축 및 이완 반응성 감소의 원인으로 생각된다.