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Endothelial dysfunction after repeated Chlamydia pneumoniae infection in apolipoprotein E-knockout mice.
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Liuba, Petru Karnani, Päivi Pesonen, Erkki Paakkari, Ilari Forslid, Anders Johansson, Lilian Persson, Kjell Wadstroem, Torkel Laurini, Roberto |
| Copyright Year | 2000 |
| Abstract | BACKGROUND Arterial relaxation is largely regulated by endothelial nitric oxide (NO). Its diminished activity has been associated with incipient atherosclerosis. We investigated the endothelium-dependent relaxation of aorta in apolipoprotein E-knockout (apoE-KO) mice exposed to single or repeated Chlamydia pneumoniae inoculation. METHODS AND RESULTS Forty-eight apoE-KO mice, 8 weeks old, were inoculated intranasally with C pneumoniae (n=24) or saline (n=24) every 2 weeks over a 6-week period. Twenty mice (10 infected and 10 controls) were killed at 2 weeks and 6 weeks, respectively, after the first inoculation. The smooth muscle tone of aortic rings was measured in vitro at both time points. The norepinephrine-precontracted thoracic aortic rings were successively exposed to methacholine in the absence and presence of N:(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) and diclofenac. The methacholine-induced relaxation was attenuated in the infected mice at 6 weeks in both the absence and presence of L-NAME (P:<0.05 and P:<0.01, respectively). When administered together with L-NAME, diclofenac enhanced the relaxation of the L-NAME-pretreated aortas in infected mice at 2 weeks (P:<0.05) but not in noninfected mice. The relaxation response from infected mice tended to differ in the same manner at 6 weeks (P:<0.1). No intimal thickening was detected at either time point. CONCLUSIONS C pneumoniae impairs arterial endothelial function, and the NO pathway is principally involved. Cyclooxygenase-dependent vasoconstricting products may also account for the infection-induced impaired relaxation. These findings further support the role of C pneumoniae infection in atherosclerosis development. |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| DOI | 10.1161/01.CIR.102.9.1039 |
| PubMed reference number | 10961970 |
| Journal | Medline |
| Volume Number | 102 |
| Issue Number | 9 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/circulationaha/102/9/1039.full.pdf?download=true |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://doi.org/10.1161/01.CIR.102.9.1039 |
| Journal | Circulation |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
