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Pro-inflammatory cytokines of rat vasculature in DOCA-salt treatment
Behjat Seifi1, Mehri Kadkhodaee, Jie Xu
1Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, 14155-6447, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to ascertain the onset expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the aorta and kidney and establish their correlation with the increase in arterial blood pressure in rats subjected to DOCA-salt treatment. Male Sprague-Dawley rats underwent unilateral nephrectomy and received subcutaneous DOCA (20 mg/rat/week) as well as 1% NaCl and 0.2% KCl for drinking for 2 weeks. Blood pressure and expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in aorta and kidney were studied weekly during the induction of hypertension. The treated rats exhibited a mild elevation of blood pressure at 1 week and a profound increase at 2 weeks. Quantitative RT-PCR demonstrated a 4.9-fold and a 3.6-fold enhancement in the expression of TNF-alpha and IL-6, respectively, in aorta as early as 1 week. The expression of IL-6 and TNF-alpha in the kidney remained almost unchanged at 1 week but mildly increased at 2 weeks DOCA-salt treatment. This study indicates a robust increase in the expression of IL-6 and TNF-alpha in aorta in DOCA-salt treated rats. This enhancement suggests that the activation of pro-inflammatory cytokines may contribute to onset of the elevation of blood pressure in DOCA-salt hypertension model.
Insights
Pro-inflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), are upregulated in the aorta early in DOCA-salt hypertension. This suggests cytokine activation contributes to rising blood pressure in this model.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Research
- Renal Physiology
- Inflammation Biology
Background:
- Deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)-salt treatment is a model for studying hypertension.
- Pro-inflammatory cytokines are implicated in cardiovascular disease, but their early role in hypertension is not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the early expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-alpha and IL-6) in the aorta and kidney.
- To correlate cytokine expression with the onset of elevated arterial blood pressure in a rat model.
Main Methods:
- Male Sprague-Dawley rats underwent unilateral nephrectomy and received DOCA, NaCl, and KCl for two weeks.
- Blood pressure and cytokine gene expression (TNF-alpha, IL-6) in aorta and kidney were measured weekly using quantitative RT-PCR.
Main Results:
- DOCA-salt rats showed mild blood pressure elevation at 1 week, with a profound increase by 2 weeks.
- Aortic expression of TNF-alpha and IL-6 significantly increased by 1 week (4.9-fold and 3.6-fold, respectively).
- Renal expression of these cytokines showed minimal change at 1 week, with a slight increase at 2 weeks.
Conclusions:
- Aortic pro-inflammatory cytokine expression, specifically TNF-alpha and IL-6, is robustly increased early in the DOCA-salt hypertension model.
- Early activation of these cytokines in the aorta may play a role in the development of elevated blood pressure.
