Hypertension Is Associated with Marked Alterations in Sphingolipid Biology: A Potential Role for Ceramide

Leon J. A. Spijkers*, Rob F. P. van den Akker, Ben J. A. Janssen, Jacques J. Debets, Jo G. R. De Mey, Erik S. G. Stroes, Bert-Jan H. van den Born, Dayanjan S. Wijesinghe, Charles E. Chalfant, Luke MacAleese, Gert B. Eijkel, Ron M. A. Heeren, Astrid E. Alewijnse, Stephan L. M. Peters

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Background: Hypertension is, amongst others, characterized by endothelial dysfunction and vascular remodeling. As sphingolipids have been implicated in both the regulation of vascular contractility and growth, we investigated whether sphingolipid biology is altered in hypertension and whether this is reflected in altered vascular function. Methods and Findings: In isolated carotid arteries from spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats, shifting the ceramide/S1P ratio towards ceramide dominance by administration of a sphingosine kinase inhibitor (dimethylsphingosine) or exogenous application of sphingomyelinase, induced marked endothelium-dependent contractions in SHR vessels (DMS: 1.4 +/- 0.4 and SMase: 2.1 +/- 0.1 mN/mm; n = 10), that were virtually absent in WKY vessels (DMS: 0.0 +/- 0.0 and SMase: 0.6 +/- 0.1 mN/mm; n = 9, p
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)9
JournalPLOS ONE
Volume6
Issue number7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 19 Jul 2011

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