Chronic rose oxide and exercise synergistically modulate cardiovascular and autonomic functions in hypertensive rats.

With the alarming rise in cases of arterial hypertension worldwide, there is an urgent need to develop combined therapies to mitigate this scenario. Rose oxide (RO), a monoterpene with anti-inflammatory and hypotensive properties, emerges as an alternative. The present study is the first to evaluate the effect of RO administered chronically and combined with physical exercise (swimming) since both have been reported to have beneficial impacts on hypertension.

Comparison of 8-weeks of full versus split body resistance training on appetite and energy intake in non-obese untrained men.

To investigate the effects of 8-weeks of full versus split body resistance training (RT) on appetite and energy intake in non-obese untrained men. The participants were pair-matched based on their initial fat mass and then randomly allocated into one of two treatment groups: Full body (FB, n = 20), in which all muscle groups were trained in every session, or Split body (SB, n = 15), in which upper and lower muscle groups were trained alternated per session; both groups trained in non-consecutive days, three times per week with total number of sets performed equated between groups. Energy intake, body composition, and strength performance were evaluated at pre-training, and after 8-weeks of RT, as well as self-reported hunger, fullness, and desire to eat, that were assessed at fasted and feed states pre- and post-intervention.

Acute autonomic effects of rose oxide on cardiovascular parameters of Wistar and spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Aims: Anti-inflammatory molecules, such as rose oxide (RO), are likely to exert therapeutic effects in systemic arterial hypertension (SAH), a disease associated with abnormal immune responses. We aimed to investigate acute autonomic effects of RO on hemodynamic parameters of Wistar and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR).

Methods: Rats were anesthetized and femoral artery and veins were cannulated.

Role of hydrogen sulfide in ventilatory responses to hypercapnia in the medullary raphe of adult rats.

New Findings: What is the central question of this study? There is evidence that H S plays a role in the control of breathing: what are its actions on the ventilatory and thermoregulatory responses to hypercapnia via effects in the medullary raphe, a brainstem region that participates in the ventilatory adjustments to hypercapnia? What is the main finding and its importance? Hypercapnia increased the endogenous production of H S in the medullary raphe. Inhibition of endogenous H S attenuated the ventilatory response to hypercapnia in unanaesthetized rats, suggesting its excitatory action via the cystathionine β-synthase-H S pathway in the medullary raphe.

Abstract: Hydrogen sulfide (H S) has been recently recognized as a gasotransmitter alongside carbon monoxide (CO) and nitric oxide (NO).

Benefits of pharmacological and electrical cholinergic stimulation in hypertension and heart failure.

Systemic arterial hypertension and heart failure are cardiovascular diseases that affect millions of individuals worldwide. They are characterized by a change in the autonomic nervous system balance, highlighted by an increase in sympathetic activity associated with a decrease in parasympathetic activity. Most therapeutic approaches seek to treat these diseases by medications that attenuate sympathetic activity.

Cigarette smoke exposure causes systemic and autonomic cardiocirculatory changes in rats depending on the daily exposure dose.

Aims: To evaluate the systemic changes and autonomic cardiocirculatory control of awaken rats chronically exposed to the cigarette smoke (CS) of 1 or 2 cigarettes/day.

Main Methods: Rats were exposed to clean air (control) or cigarette smoke of 1 (CS1) or 2 (CS2) cigarettes/animal/day for 30 days. Then, arterial pressure (AP) and heart rate (HR) were recorded in conscious rats to assess spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity and HR and AP variabilities.

Exercise and pyridostigmine prevents gastric emptying delay and increase blood pressure and cisplatin-induced baroreflex sensitivity in rats.

Cisplatin treatment induces an autonomic dysfunction and gastrointestinal and cardiovascular disorders. Physical exercise as well as pyridostigmine treatment induces improves in the autonomic nervous system. In the current study, we investigated the effect of physical exercise and pyridostigmine treatment on gastrointestinal and cardiovascular changes in cisplatin-treated rats.

Acetylcholinesterase inhibition prevents alterations in cardiovascular autonomic control and gastric motility in L-NAME-induced hypertensive rats.

Aims: Autonomic dysfunction in arterial hypertension affects cardiorespiratory control and gastric motility and has been characterized by increased sympathetic and reduced parasympathetic activity. In the present work we investigated the effects of anticholinesterase drugs [donepezil (DON) or pyridostigmine (PYR)] on cardiovascular, autonomic, and gastric parameters in L-NAME-induced hypertensive rats.

Materials And Methods: Daily oral gavage of L-NAME (70 mg/kg/day) was performed over 14 days in male Wistar rats (180-220 g), whereas daily oral gavage of DON or PYR (1.

Selective denervation of the aortic and carotid baroreceptors in rats.

New Findings: What is the central question of this study? The traditional surgical approach for sino-aortic denervation in rats leads to simultaneous carotid baroreceptor and chemoreceptor deactivation, which does not permit their individual study in different situations. What is the main finding and its importance? We have described a new surgical approach capable of selective denervation of the arterial (aortic and carotid) baroreceptors, keeping the carotid bodies (chemoreceptors) intact. It is understood that this technique might be a useful tool for investigating the relative role of the baro- and chemoreceptors in several physiological and pathophysiological conditions.

Sex differences and the role of ovarian hormones in site-specific nociception of SHR.

Accurate diagnosis and treatment of pain is dependent on knowledge of the variables that might alter this response. Some of these variables are the locality of the noxious stimulus, the sex of the individual, and the presence of chronic diseases. Among these chronic diseases, hypertension is considered a serious and silent disease that has been associated with hypoalgesia.

Central administration of aminooxyacetate, an inhibitor of H2S production, affects thermoregulatory but not cardiovascular and ventilatory responses to hypercapnia in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Hydrogen sulfide (HS) is classically known for its toxic effects. More recently HS has been documented as a neuromodulator. Here we investigated the central effects of aminooxyacetate (AOA; inhibitor of the HS-synthesizing enzyme cystathionine β-synthase, CBS) on cardiovascular, respiratory and thermoregulatory responses to hypercapnia in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR).

Excitatory Modulation of the preBötzinger Complex Inspiratory Rhythm Generating Network by Endogenous Hydrogen Sulfide.

Hydrogen Sulfide (HS) is one of three gasotransmitters that modulate excitability in the CNS. Global application of HS donors or inhibitors of HS synthesis to the respiratory network has suggested that inspiratory rhythm is modulated by exogenous and endogenous HS. However, effects have been variable, which may reflect that the RTN/pFRG (retrotrapezoid nucleus, parafacial respiratory group) and the preBötzinger Complex (preBötC, critical for inspiratory rhythm generation) are differentially modulated by exogenous HS.

Involvement of endogenous central hydrogen sulfide (HS) in hypoxia-induced hypothermia in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) display autonomic imbalance and abnormal body temperature (Tb) adjustments. Hydrogen sulfide (HS) modulates hypoxia-induced hypothermia, but its role in SHR thermoregulation is unknown. We tested the hypothesis that SHR display peculiar thermoregulatory response to hypoxia and that endogenous HS overproduced in the caudal nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) of SHR modulates this response.

Role of central hydrogen sulfide on ventilatory and cardiovascular responses to hypoxia in spontaneous hypertensive rats.

Central hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has been reported to act as a gaseous neuromodulator involved in the ventilatory and cardiovascular control of normotensive rats, whereas no information is available in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). We recorded minute ventilation (VE), mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) before and after blocking of enzyme Cystathionine β-synthase (CBS) producing H2S in neural tissue by microinjection of aminooxyacetate (inhibitor of CBS) into the fourth ventricle of Wistar normotensive rats (WNR) and SHR followed by 30min of normoxia (21% inspired O2) or hypoxia (10% inspired O2) exposure. Microinjection of AOA or saline (1μL) did not change VE, MAP and HR during normoxia in both WNR and SHR.

Effect of chronic ethanol exposure on rat ventilatory responses to hypoxia and hypercapnia.

Objective: The effect of chronic ethanol exposure on chemoreflexes has not been extensively studied in experimental animals. Therefore, this study tested the hypothesis that known ethanol-induced autonomic, neuroendocrine and cardiovascular changes coincide with increased chemoreflex sensitivity, as indicated by increased ventilatory responses to hypoxia and hypercapnia.

Methods: Male Wistar rats were subjected to increasing ethanol concentrations in their drinking water (first week: 5% v/v, second week: 10% v/v, third and fourth weeks: 20% v/v).

Autonomic modulation and its relation with body composition in swimmers.

This study compared autonomic modulation in swimmers and non-athletes in relation to body composition. A total of 28 athletes with a mean age of 19.7 ± 2.

Hypoxia-related gene expression profile in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia: prognostic implications.

A cellular hypoxic condition is a key event in several human cancers, but knowledge about its role in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is very limited. In the present study, the gene expression profile of hypoxia-related genes (HIF1A, CA9, VEGF and SCL2A1) was evaluated in bone marrow samples of 113 pediatric patients. HIF1A mRNA up-regulation was significantly associated with higher 5-year event-free survival rates in patients with B-ALL as well as in the overall ALL population in both univariate and multivariate analysis (p = 0.

Parasympathetic activation by pyridostigmine on chemoreflex sensitivity in heart-failure rats.

We evaluated the effects of parasympathetic activation by pyridostigmine (PYR) on chemoreflex sensitivity in a rat model of heart failure (HF rats). HF rats demonstrated higher pulmonary ventilation (PV), which was not affected by PYR. When HF and control rats treated or untreated with PYR were exposed to 15% O2, all groups exhibited prompt increases in respiratory frequency (RF), tidal volume (TV) and PV.

Hemodynamic and ventilatory response to different levels of hypoxia and hypercapnia in carotid body-denervated rats.

Objective: Chemoreceptors play an important role in the autonomic modulation of circulatory and ventilatory responses to changes in arterial O(2) and/or CO(2). However, studies evaluating hemodynamic responses to hypoxia and hypercapnia in rats have shown inconsistent results. Our aim was to evaluate hemodynamic and respiratory responses to different levels of hypoxia and hypercapnia in conscious intact or carotid body-denervated rats.

The treatment with pyridostigmine improves the cardiocirculatory function in rats with chronic heart failure.

Sympathetic hyperactivity and its outcome in heart failure have been thoroughly investigated to determine the focus of pharmacologic approaches targeting the sympathetic nervous system in the treatment of this pathophysiological condition. On the other hand, therapeutic approaches aiming to protect the reduced cardiac parasympathetic function have not received much attention. The present study evaluated rats with chronic heart failure (six to seven weeks after coronary artery ligation) and the effects of an increased parasympathetic function by pyridostigmine (an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor) on the following aspects: arterial pressure (AP), heart rate (HR), baroreceptor and Bezold-Jarisch reflex, pulse interval (PI) and AP variability, cardiac sympathetic and parasympathetic tonus, intrinsic heart rate (i-HR) and cardiac function.

Resting heart rate as a predictor of metabolic dysfunctions in obese children and adolescents.

Background: Recent studies have identified that a higher resting heart rate (RHR) is associated with elevated blood pressure, independent of body fatness, age and ethnicity. However, it is still unclear whether RHR can also be applied as a screening for other risk factors, such as hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia. Thus, the purpose of the presented study was to analyze the association between RHR, lipid profile and fasting glucose in obese children and adolescents.

Role of cGMP and cAMP in the hemodynamic response to intrathecal sildenafil administration.

Introduction: Results from our laboratory have demonstrated that intracerebroventricular administration of sildenafil to conscious rats promoted a noticeable increase in both lumbar sympathetic activity and heart rate, with no change in the mean arterial pressure. The intracerebroventricular administration of sildenafil may have produced the hemodynamic effects by activating sympathetic preganglionic neurons in the supraspinal regions and spinal cord. It is well documented that sildenafil increases intracellular cGMP levels by inhibiting phosphodiesterase type 5 and increases cAMP levels by inhibiting other phosphodiesterases.

Role of the spinal cord NO/cGMP pathway in the control of arterial pressure and heart rate.

The modulatory effect of nitric oxide/cyclic guanosine monophosphate (NO/cGMP) pathway on sympathetic preganglionic neurons still deserves further investigation. The present study was designed to examine the role of the spinal cord NO/cGMP pathway in controlling mean arterial pressure and heart rate. We observed that intrathecal administration of the NO synthase inhibitor Nω-Nitro-L-arginine methyl ester hydrochloride (L-NAME) causes an increase in mean arterial pressure but does not affect heart rate.