Heparin suppresses cyclosporine-induced endothelin-1 synthesis in rat endothelial cells

Cyclosporine stimulates vasoconstrictor endothelin-1 (ET-1) synthesis. This study examined the effect of heparin on cyclosporine-induced ET-1 synthesis in Wistar rat aortic endothelial cells in culture. Cyclosporine (0.01-5 mumol/L) stimulated ET-1 mRNA expression in a dose-dependent manner. A nitric oxide synthesis inhibitor, NG-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA) (10(-5) mol/L), did not affect cyclosporine-induced ET-1 mRNA expression. Heparin (1-20 U/ml) suppressed cyclosporine-induced ET-1 mRNA expression in a dose-dependent manner. The inhibitory effect of heparin was blunted in the presence of either L-NMMA (10(-5) mol/L) or calmodulin inhibitors such as N-(6-aminohexyl)-5-chloro-1-naphthalenesulfonamide (W-7) (5 x 10(-5) mol/L) or calmidazolium (5 x 10(-5) mol/L) in the presence of the phosphodiesterase inhibitor 3-isobutyl 1-methylxanthine (0.1 mmol/L). These results suggest that heparin suppresses cyclosporine-induced ET-1 mRNA expression via both NO- and calmodulin-dependent pathways.