Vasoprotective Endothelial Effects of Chronic Cannabidiol Treatment and Its Influence on the Endocannabinoid System in Rats with Primary and Secondary Hypertension.

Our study aimed to examine the endothelium (vascular)-protecting effects of chronic cannabidiol (CBD) administration (10 mg/kg once daily for 2 weeks) in aortas and small mesenteric (G3) arteries isolated from deoxycorticosterone-induced hypertensive (DOCA-salt) rats and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). CBD reduced hypertrophy and improved the endothelium-dependent vasodilation in response to acetylcholine in the aortas and G3 of DOCA-salt rats and SHR. The enhancement of vasorelaxation was prevented by the inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) with L-NAME and/or the inhibition of cyclooxygenase (COX) with indomethacin in the aortas and G3 of DOCA-salt and SHR, respectively.

Beneficial Changes in Rat Vascular Endocannabinoid System in Primary Hypertension and under Treatment with Chronic Inhibition of Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolase by URB597.

Our study aimed to examine the effects of hypertension and the chronic administration of the fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) inhibitor URB597 on vascular function and the endocannabinoid system in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Functional studies were performed on small mesenteric G3 arteries (sMA) and aortas isolated from SHR and normotensive Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY) treated with URB597 (1 mg/kg; twice daily for 14 days). In the aortas and sMA of SHR, endocannabinoid levels and cannabinoid CB receptor (CBR) expression were elevated.

Reduction of the serotonin 5-HT and 5-HT receptor-mediated contraction of human pulmonary artery by the combined 5-HT receptor antagonist and serotonin transporter inhibitor LY393558.

Background: LY393558 is a combined antagonist of serotonin (5-HT) 5-HT receptors and inhibitor of serotonin transporter (SERT). LY393558 reduces 5-HT-induced vasoconstriction and remodelling of rat and/or mouse pulmonary arteries. The aim of our study was to examine the effect of LY393558 on the 5-HT-stimulated vasoconstriction of human pulmonary arteries (hPAs) and to determine the underlying mechanism(s).

Functional and structural changes in aorta of mice divergently selected for basal metabolic rate.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are one of the most common causes of mortality likely genetically linked to the variation in basal metabolic rate (BMR). A robust test of the significance of such association may be provided by artificial selection experiments on animals selected for diversification of BMR. Here we asked whether genetically determined differences in BMR correlate with anatomical shift in endothelium structure and if so, the relaxation and contraction responses of the aorta in mice from two lines of Swiss-Webster laboratory mice (Mus musculus) divergently selected for high or low BMR (HBMR and LBMR lines, respectively).

Vasodilatory effects of cannabidiol in human pulmonary and rat small mesenteric arteries: modification by hypertension and the potential pharmacological opportunities.

Objective: Cannabidiol (CBD) has been suggested as a potential antihypertensive drug. The aim of our study was to investigate its vasodilatory effect in isolated human pulmonary arteries (hPAs) and rat small mesenteric arteries (sMAs).

Methods: Vascular effects of CBD were examined in hPAs obtained from patients during resection of lung carcinoma and sMAs isolated from spontaneously hypertensive (SHR); 11-deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA-salt) hypertensive rats or their appropriate normotensive controls using organ bath and wire myography, respectively.