The effect of polyamines on the endothelium and vascular wall metabolism in the rat

Administration of putrescine, a polyamine, to rats leads to endothelial injury manifesting itself by an increased number of endothelial cells circulating in blood. Moreover, putrescine affects the metabolism of the arterial wall itself, primarily by increasing the activity of phosphomonoesterases I and II and by decreasing the activities of Krebs cycle enzymes, both of which are phenomena that can be regarded as "preatherogenic" changes 5, 6, 8, 11 preceding the onset of pathological processes in the arterial wall. Putrescine significantly decreases aortic ATPase (adenylpyrophosphatase) both in the acute and chronic phases of experiment. Ultrastructural changes after 16 weeks of putrescine administration manifested themselves in increased proliferation and smooth muscle cell injury eosinophil inflitration into the adventitia. The findings support the hypothesis that high levels of PA in homocysteinemic patients and those on chronic dialysis are a common denominator accelerating atherosgenesis in these subjects.