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Increased ETA and ETB receptor contraction in the left internal mammary artery from patients with hypertension

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 22, pages 226–229 (2008)Cite this article

Patients with hypertension have an increased activity in the endothelin system and an increased vascular tone, which predisposes them to target organ damage. In the present study, in vitro pharmacology, real-time PCR and immunofluorescence techniques were used to show enhanced endothelin type A (ET A ) and type B (ET B ) receptor contraction and expression in the left internal mammary artery from patients with hypertension as compared to normotensive patients. These receptors may be important in the pathophysiology of hypertension.

Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is a potent vasoconstrictor peptide that is mainly produced by vascular endothelial cells. It mediates its effect via two different G-protein-coupled receptor subtypes: the ETA and ETB receptors. The ETA receptor is the dominant receptor subtype on vascular smooth muscle cells and mediates contraction. In contrast, the ETB receptor is mainly located on endothelial cells and mediates vasodilatation via the release of endothelium-derived relaxing factors. In the healthy vasculature, ETB receptors are expressed only at low levels on vascular smooth muscle cells. In pathology, such as coronary artery disease and congestive heart failure, ETB receptors on smooth muscle cells are upregulated and elicit contraction upon stimulation.1, 2 Previous results, obtained from the left internal mammary artery from patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery, showed a variation in the ETB receptor expression.3 Only 58% of the patients had arteries that contracted when exposed to sarafotoxin 6c.3 Other studies have shown similar irregularity in the endothelin response.4 The cause of this variation is not known. In the current study, we hypothesize that the expression of endothelin receptors is higher in arteries from patients with hypertension than in arteries from patients with normal blood pressure.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Lund University Hospital, Lund, Sweden

    D Nilsson, A Wackenfors, L Gustafsson, L Edvinsson & M Malmsjö

  2. Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Lund University Hospital, Lund, Sweden

    P Paulsson & R Ingemansson

  3. Department of Ophthalmology, Lund University Hospital, Lund, Sweden

    M Malmsjö

Authors
  1. D Nilsson
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  2. A Wackenfors
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  3. L Gustafsson
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  4. L Edvinsson
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  5. P Paulsson
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  6. R Ingemansson
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  7. M Malmsjö
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Correspondence to M Malmsjö.

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Nilsson, D., Wackenfors, A., Gustafsson, L. et al. Increased ETA and ETB receptor contraction in the left internal mammary artery from patients with hypertension. J Hum Hypertens 22, 226–229 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jhh.1002317

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