Chronic activation of PPARalpha is detrimental to cardiac recovery after ischemia.

High fatty acid oxidation (FAO) rates contribute to ischemia-reperfusion injury of the myocardium. Because peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)alpha regulates transcription of several FAO enzymes in the heart, we examined the response of mice with cardiac-restricted overexpression of PPARalpha (MHC-PPARalpha) or whole body PPARalpha deletion including the heart (PPARalpha-/-) to myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury. Isolated working hearts from MHC-PPARalpha and nontransgenic (NTG) littermates were subjected to no-flow global ischemia followed by reperfusion.

Control of calcium homeostasis by angiotensin II in adrenal glomerulosa cells through activation of p38 MAPK.

Angiotensin II-induced activation of aldosterone secretion in adrenal glomerulosa cells is mediated by an increase of intracellular calcium. We describe here a new Ca2+-regulatory pathway involving the inhibition by angiotensin II of calcium extrusion through the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger. Caffeine reduced both the angiotensin II-induced calcium signal and aldosterone production in bovine glomerulosa cells.