Influence of spironolactone on urinary prostaglandin E2 and kinin excretion in rats

Spironolactone was administered to spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) in order to examine the urinary excretions of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and kinin. Thirteen SHRs were divided into 2 groups: 0.1 ml of sesame oil was administered to one group (the spironolactone-lactone-untreated group, n = 6) and 20 mg of spironolactone in 0.1 ml of sesame oil was administered to the other group (the spironolactone-treated group, n = 7) by the subcutaneous route for 10 days in succession. Determinations were then made of the body weight, blood pressure, urine volume, and excretion levels of Na, K, kinin and PGE2 in the 24-hour urine. After the animals had been killed by decapitation, blood samples were drawn for determination of the plasma renin activity (PRA). The results obtained indicated decreased blood pressure and increased urinary Na excretion in the spironolactone-treated group. On the other hand, the PGE2 excretion level in the 24-hour urine decreased markedly immediately after administration of spironolactone (p less than 0.05) and was maintained at lower levels up to the end of the experiment. However, the 24-hour urinary kinin levels showed similar changes in both the spironolactone-treated group and the untreated group with no significant difference between them. These findings suggest that spironolactone has a suppressive effect on urinary PGE2 excretion, the activity of which is not mediated by kinin production in the kidneys but is the result of a direct action of spironolactone itself.     

Urinary excretion of prostaglandin E2 and prostaglandin F2alpha in potassium-deficient rats

Potassium-deficiency was induced in rats by dietary deprivation of potassium. The animals became polyuric and urine osmolality decreased more then three-fold compared to controls. Urinary excretion of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and prostaglandin F2alpha (PGF2alpha) did not increase during 2 weeks of potassium depletion. Partial inhibition of renal prostaglandin synthesis by meclofenamate did not increase the urine osmolality after water deprivation. These results make unlikely the hypothesis that the polyuria of potassium-deficiency, is the result of enhanced renal synthesis of prostaglandins with subsequent antagonism of the hydro-osmotic effect of vasopressin. Male animals consistently excreted less PGE2 than female animals.     

Dissociation of cold-water swin and morphine analgesia in Brattleboro rats with diabetes insipidus

The present study examined whether vasopressin mediated the analgesic response to morphine and cold-water stress by comparing the analgesic responses of homozygous Brattleboro rats with diabetes insipidus with those of normal rats of the same strain of similar weight. Brattleboro rats exhibited hypersensitive responses to foot shock which were brought back to within normal limits by systemic administration of arginine vasopressin and desamino-D-arginine vasopressin. While Brattleboro rats failed to display an analgesic response to cold-water swim stress, they displayed a normal analgesic response to morphine. These results provide further evidence for dissociation of pain-inhibitory mechanisms into opioid and non-opioid components, and suggests that vasopressin might be involved in the elucidation of the latter component.     

Hydrochlorothiazide, amiloride and tolmetin in the treatment of diabetes insipidus of Brattleboro rats

To test the effects of hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) alone and in combination with amiloride or tolmetin in the treatment of nephrogenic diabetes insipidus, metabolic studies of 12 days each were carried out in 36 male, Brattleboro rats. They were divided into five groups as follows: (A) controls; (B) high dose HCTZ at 6 mg/rat/day; (C) low dose HCTZ at 3 mg/rat/day; (D) HCTZ identical to (C) but with addition of amiloride at 0.6 mg/rat/day; (E) HCTZ identical to (C) but with addition of tolmetin at 40 mg/rat/day. The immediate response to treatment was a significant increase in urinary sodium excretion from mean values (mEq/kg/day) of less than 11 to values higher than 13, except group E with mean value of 12. There was marked increase in urinary potassium excretion (mEq/kg/day), from mean control value of 15.5 to 21.5, 20.8, 18.5 and 17.7 in groups B, C, D and E, respectively. During the last three days of the study, mean urine osmolality (Uosm) and free water reabsorption (TCH2O) increased significantly: [formula: see text]. These indices were higher in groups B, D and E than in group C. Serum osmolality decreased only in groups B, C and D but not in the HCTZ-tolmetin groups. Similarly, serum sodium concentration was significantly lower in groups B, C and D compared to the control and the HCTZ-tolmetin groups. Serum potassium concentration was reduced in all the treated groups, but in both the groups treated with HCTZ-amiloride and HCTZ-tolmetin, the reduction was smaller than the one observed in the high-HCTZ treated group.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

High urine flow rate increases prostaglandin E excretion in the conscious dog

Although previous studies from this and other laboratories have shown that urinary prostaglandin E excretion (U_PGEV) can vary independent of urine flow rate, recent studies during water diuresis in the conscious dog have suggested that high urine flow rate per se may increase U_PGEV. To examine the effect of urine flow rate on U_PGEV we administered either mannitol, chlorothiazide or Ringer's solution to mongrel dogs and measured U_PGEV. During anesthesia neither mannitol or chlorothiazide increased U_PGEV. There was, however, a consistent increase with all three agents in awake animals. This increase in U_PGEV was independent of alterations in glomerular filtration rate. There was a consistent increase in urinary sodium excretion and decrease in urinary osmolality with all three agents. The changes in PGE, however, were similar to those found during water diuresis when no increase in sodium excretion was found. It is not presently clear whether these findings reflect a true increase in renal PGE synthesis due to some change in flow or pressure within the renal medulla or rather represent unchanged PGE synthesis by renal tubular cells, the high tubule fluid flow rate causing increased entry into the tubular lumen in contrast to the renal interstitium.     

The effect of iron overload on urinary excretion of immunoreactive prostaglandin E2

The effect of in vivo lipid peroxidation on the excretion of immunoreactive prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) in the urine of rats was studied. Weanling, male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a vitamin E-deficient diet containing 10% tocopherol-stripped corn oil (CO) or 5% cod liver oil (CLO) with or without 40 mg dl-alpha-tocopheryl acetate/kg. To induce a high, sustained level of lipid peroxidation, some rats were injected intraperitoneally with 100 mg of iron as iron dextran after 10 days of feeding. Iron overload stimulated in vivo lipid peroxidation in rats, as measured by the increase in expired ethane and pentane. Dietary vitamin E reversed this effect. Rats fed the CLO diet excreted 9.5-fold more urinary thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) than did rats fed the CO diet. Iron overload increased the excretion of TBARS in the urine of rats fed the CO diet, but not in urine of rats fed the CLO diet. Dietary vitamin E decreased TBARS in the urine of rats fed either the CO or the CLO diet. Iron overload decreased by 40% the urinary excretion of PGE2 by rats fed the CO diet, and dietary vitamin E did not reverse this effect. Iron overload had no statistically significant effect on urinary excretion of PGE2 by rats fed the CLO diet. A high level of lipid peroxidation occurred in iron-treated rats, as evidenced by an increase in alkane production and in TBARS in urine in this study, and by an increase in alkane production by slices of kidney from iron-treated rats in a previous study [V. C. Gavino, C. J. Dillard, and A. L. Tappel (1984) Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 233, 741-747]. Since PGE2 excretion in urine was not correlated with these effects, lipid peroxidation appears not to be a major factor in renal PGE2 flux.     

Oxytocin action: lipid metabolism in adipocytes from homozygous diabetes insipidus rats (Brattleboro strain)

Oxytocin, like insulin, stimulates glucose oxidation in normal rat adipocytes. Fat cells from homozygous Brattleboro rats that exhibit diabetes insipidus (HoDI animals) and that have a normal number of oxytocin receptors, however, are unable to respond to oxytocin in terms of glucose oxidation. We now report that in adipocytes from HoDI animals that are responsive to insulin, oxytocin was also unable to stimulate lipogenesis. In contrast, oxytocin like insulin was able to inhibit epinephrine-stimulated lipolysis in adipocytes from HoDI animals. Thus, in HoDI adipocytes, the results indicate that the receptor-effector system is only partially defective.     

Effect of acetylsalicylic acid on urinary excretion of prostaglandin E in stroke patients

In 12 of 76 stroke patients complicated by the syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone (SIADH), a significant increase in urinary prostaglandin E (PGE) (p less than 0.005), and a significant positive relationship between the plasma arginine vasopressin (AVR) level and urinary PGE excretion were observed (r = 0.72, p less than 0.05). The experimental results are consistent with the view that renal PGE acts as a modulator of ADH. Nowadays acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), an inhibitor of prostaglandin biosynthesis, is widely used in ischemic stroke, it was felt necessary to study the effect of this drug on urinary PGE excretion. Therefore various daily doses of ASA were given orally for 3 days to patients with ischemic stroke. PGE values in 24-hour urine samples were measured every day for 3 days before administration of the drug and for 3 days during ASA administration. In 10 patients who took 75 mg of ASA, the decrease in urinary PGE excretion was not statistically significant. On the other hand when ASA was administered 300 mg once in 19 patients or 300 mg 4 times in 11 cases, urinary PGE excretion decreased significantly (p less than 0.05 and p less than 0.05 respectively). In another group of 8 patients who were observed before, during and after the ASA administration, a daily oral dose of 300 mg for 3 days caused a significant decrease in urinary PGE excretion during these 3 days (p less than 0.05). The urinary PGE excretion returned to the control level within 3 days after cessation of the ASA administration.     

Cooperative mechanisms of acute antidiuretic response to bendroflumethiazide in rats with lithium-induced nephrogenic diabetes insipidus

The exact mechanism underlying thiazides-induced paradoxical antidiuresis in diabetes insipidus is still elusive, but it has been hypothesized that it is exerted either via Na+-depletion activating volume-homeostatic reflexes to decrease distal delivery, or direct stimulation of distal water reabsorption. This study examined how these two proposed mechanisms actually cooperate to induce an acute bendroflumethiazide (BFTZ)-antidiuretic effect in nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (NDI). Anaesthetized rats with lithium (Li)-induced NDI were prepared in order to measure their renal functional parameters, and in some of them, bilateral renal denervation (DNX) was induced. After a 30 min control clearance period, we infused either BFTZ into 2 groups, NDI+BFTZ and NDI/DNX+BFTZ, or its vehicle into a NDI+V group, and six 30 min experimental clearance periods were taken. During BFTZ infusion in the NDI+BFTZ group, transiently elevated Na+ excretion was associated with rapidly increased urinary osmolality and decreased free water clearance, but Li clearance and urine flow declined in the later periods. However, in the NDI/DNX+BFTZ group, there was persistently elevated Na+ excretion with unchanged Li clearance and urine flow during the experimental period, while alterations in free water clearance and urinary osmolality resembled those in the NDI+BFTZ group. In conclusion, BFTZ initially exerted two direct effects of natriuresis-diuresis and stimulating free water reabsorption at the distal nephron in NDI, which together elevated Na+ excretion and urinary osmolality but kept the urine volume unchanged in the first hour. Thereafter, the resultant sodium depletion led to the activation of neural reflexes that reduced distal fluid delivery to compensate for BFTZ-induced natriuresis-diuresis which, in cooperation with the direct distal BFTZ-antidiuretic effect, resulted in excretion of urine with a low volume, high osmolality, and normal sodium.     

Decrease in urinary excretion of active kallikrein in conscious young and adult spontaneously hypertensive rats

Urinary excretion of active kallikrein was determined every day (amidolytic assay) in 6 male Okamoto-Aoki spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and 6 male normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY) from ages 4 to 7 weeks and from 12 to 15 weeks. The rats were housed in individual metabolic cages and were allowed free access to food having normal sodium content and to tap water. Urinary kallikrein excretion was lower in 4-week-old SHR than in age-matched WKY (7.8 +/- 1.4 vs. 15.5 +/- 2.3 nkat/24 h respectively, P less than 0.01) at a moment when systolic blood pressure (BP) in SHR was already higher than in WKY. The slope of the increase in active kallikrein excretion from week 4 to 7 was not different for SHR and WKY (6.34 +/- 1.05 vs. 7.50 +/- 1.02 nkat/24 h-1 . wk-1 respectively). In contrast, from week 12 to 15, this slope was not significant for SHR (1.67 +/- 2.55 nkat/24 h-1 . wk-1) while it remained positive in WKY (7.36 +/- 3,44 nkat/24 h-1 . wk-1). In both SHR and WKY, urinary kallikrein excretion was directly related to BP from week 4 to 7 but the slope of the regression line was less for SHR than for WKY (0.19 +/- 0.05 vs. 0.48 +/- 0.12 nkat/24 h-1 . mm Hg respectively). From ages 12 to 15 weeks, kallikrein excretion was still related to pressure in WKY (y = 1.92 x - 180.8; r = 0.93) but not in SHR (y = 0.71 x - 81.48; r = 0.52).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Phagocytes produce prostaglandin E2 in response to cytosolic Listeria monocytogenes

Listeria monocytogenes is an intracellular bacterium that elicits robust CD8⁺ T-cell responses. Despite the ongoing development of L. monocytogenes-based platforms as cancer vaccines, our understanding of how L. monocytogenes drives robust CD8⁺ T-cell responses remains incomplete. One overarching hypothesis is that activation of cytosolic innate pathways is critical for immunity, as strains of L. monocytogenes that are unable to access the cytosol fail to elicit robust CD8⁺ T-cell responses and in fact inhibit optimal T-cell priming. Counterintuitively, however, activation of known cytosolic pathways, such as the inflammasome and type I IFN, lead to impaired immunity. Conversely, production of prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂) downstream of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is essential for optimal L. monocytogenes T-cell priming. Here, we demonstrate that vacuole-constrained L. monocytogenes elicit reduced PGE₂ production compared to wild-type strains in macrophages and dendritic cells ex vivo. In vivo, infection with wild-type L. monocytogenes leads to 10-fold increases in PGE₂ production early during infection whereas vacuole-constrained strains fail to induce PGE₂ over mock-immunized controls. Mice deficient in COX-2 specifically in Lyz2⁺ or CD11c⁺ cells produce less PGE₂, suggesting these cell subsets contribute to PGE₂ levels in vivo, while depletion of phagocytes with clodronate abolishes PGE₂ production completely. Taken together, this work demonstrates that optimal PGE₂ production by phagocytes depends on L. monocytogenes access to the cytosol, suggesting that one reason cytosolic access is required to prime CD8⁺ T-cell responses may be to facilitate production of PGE₂.     

Misfolding of mutant aquaporin-2 water channels in nephrogenic diabetes insipidus

We reported that several aquaporin-2 (AQP2) point mutants that cause nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (NDI) are retained in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of transfected mammalian cells and degraded but can be rescued by chemical chaperones to function as plasma membrane water channels (Tamarappoo, B. K., and Verkman, A. S. (1998) J. Clin. Invest. 101, 2257-2267). To test whether mutant AQP2 proteins are misfolded, AQP2 folding was assessed by comparative detergent extractability and limited proteolysis, and AQP2 degradation kinetics was measured by label-pulse-chase and immunoprecipitation. In ER membranes from transfected CHO cells containing [(35)S]methionine-labeled AQP2, mutants T126M and A147T were remarkably detergent-resistant; for example wild-type AQP2 was >95% solubilized by 0.5% CHAPS whereas T126M was <10% solubilized. E258K, an NDI-causing AQP2 mutant which is retained in the Golgi, is highly detergent soluble like wild-type AQP2. The mutants and wild-type AQP2 were equally susceptible to digestion by trypsin, thermolysin, and proteinase K. Stopped-flow light scattering measurements indicated that T126M AQP2 at the ER was fully functional as a water channel. Pulse-chase studies indicated that the increased degradation rates for T126M (t((1)/(2)) 2.5 h) and A147T (2 h) compared with wild-type AQP2 (4 h) involve a brefeldin A-resistant, ER-dependent degradation mechanism. After growth of cells for 48 h in the chemical chaperone glycerol, AQP2 mutants T126M and A147T became properly targeted and relatively detergent-soluble. These results provide evidence that NDI-causing mutant AQP2 proteins are misfolded, but functional, and that chemical chaperones both correct the trafficking and folding defects. Strategies to facilitate protein folding might thus have therapeutic efficacy in NDI.     

Influence of a type 2 diabetes associated prostaglandin E synthase 2 polymorphism on blood prostaglandin E2 levels

In this study we tested whether the type 2 diabetes mellitus associated prostaglandin E synthase 2 arginine to histidine polymorphism at position 298 (R298H) influences prostaglandin E2 levels in humans. Fasting prostaglandin E2 was determined in the blood of subjects carrying different genotypes of the R298H polymorphism. Subjects were matched by sex, age, and body mass index. No differences in prostaglandin E2 levels were found with respect to genotypes when considering the whole group. Male homozygous histidine carriers showed elevated prostaglandin E2 levels compared to heterozygous carriers and homozygous arginine carriers (188.2±42.4 vs. 80.4±26.5 pg/ml, p=0.021; and vs. 92.9±15.3 pg/ml, p=0.11). These differences were not evident in female subjects. In contrast, 6-keto-prostaglandin F1alpha levels as independent marker of arachidonic acid metabolism showed ambiguous results. Nevertheless, preliminary evidence of the prostaglandin E synthase 2 R298H polymorphism possibly influencing prostaglandin E2 blood levels in a gender-specific manner was obtained.     

Variability in rates of urine prostaglandin E excretion

Urine prostaglandin E excretion rates were determined by hepatic receptor assay in three groups of conscious animals. Although 24-hour urine collections gave reproducibly similar levels of prostaglandin E excretion rates, levels obtained with consecutive 20-minute urine collections were extremely variable despite no obvious changes in renal function. Since short urine collection periods are used frequently in physiologic studies, the significance of variations in prostaglandin excretion rates in these studies may have to be re-evaluated.     

Processing endopeptidase deficiency in neurohypohysial secretory granules of the diabetes insipidus (Brattleboro) rat

The homozygote Brattleboro rat exhibits a hereditary diabetes insipidus due to a deficiency of vasopressin, the antidiuretic hormone. It has previously been shown that in this animal a single nucleotide deletion in the provasopressin gene leads to a mutant precursor with a C-terminal amino acid sequence different from that of the wild-type. However the N-terminal region including the hormone moiety, the processing signal as well as the first two-thirds of the neurophysin is entirely preserved and absence of maturation has to be explained by an additional cause. We show here that the neurohypophysis of the homozygote Brattleboro rat, in contrast to the adenohypophysis, displays a significant decrease in the Lys-Arg processing endopeptidase activity when compared to the heterozygote or the wild-type Wistar. It is suggested that hypothalamic vasopressinergic neurons of the homozygote Brattleboro rat display a deficiency in the processing enzyme in contrast to the oxytocinergic neurons in which processing of prooxytocin is normal.     

Variability in rates of urine prostaglandin E excretion

Urine prostaglandin E excretion rates were determined by hepatic receptor assay in three groups of conscious animals. Although 24-hour urine collections gave reproducibly similar levels of prostaglandin E excretion rates, levels obtained with consecutive 20-minute urine collections were extremely variable despite no obvious changes in renal function. Since short urine collection periods are used frequently in physiologic studies, the significance of variations in prostaglandin excretion rates in these studies may have to be re-evaluated.