Nitric oxide synthesis is involved in arterial haptoglobin expression after sustained flow changes

Mirjam B Smeets1, Gerard Pasterkamp, Sai-Kiang Lim

  • 1Experimental Cardiology Laboratory, University Medical Center, Heidelberglaan 100 (room G02.523), 3584 CX Utrecht, The Netherlands.

FEBS Letters
|October 10, 2002
PubMed

The acute phase protein haptoglobin is highly expressed in arteries after sustained flow changes and involved in cell migration and arterial restructuring. In the liver, haptoglobin expression is mainly regulated by interleukin-6 (IL-6). In the artery, shear stress and NO influence IL-6 expression. In the present study, we demonstrate that NO synthesis is involved in the regulation of arterial haptoglobin expression after sustained flow changes. Decreased haptoglobin expression after NO inhibition coincided with decreased IL-6 levels. However, IL-6 knockout mice had normal arterial haptoglobin expression levels after sustained flow changes suggesting that other mediators may provide compensatory mechanisms for the regulation of arterial haptoglobin expression.

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