Antihypertension and anti-cardiovascular remodeling by phenylalanine in spontaneously hypertensive rats: effectiveness and mechanisms

odeling · mechanismObjective To investigate mechanisms of anti hypertension and anti cardiovascular remodeling by phenylalanine (phe) in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) Methods The comparison of blood pressure (BP) increment with the ages and cardiovascular changes of SHRs was made between the 3% phe intervented group (SHR phe) and the control SHRs group Detection of the structural changes with the VIDAS digital vedio frequency processing technique and light and electron microscopy were made The cell growth and proliferation of cultured smooth muscle cells (CSMCs) of the thoracic aortas or myocardial fibroblasts were evaluated by measuring the 3 H thymidine counts per minute (cpm) incorporated into the new synthesized desoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and determining the cell number with the crystal violet stain technique The Ca 2+ influx was measured in counts/min of 45 CaCl 2 after incubating it with 5 different concentrations of phenylalanine and the intracellular [Ca 2+ ] i by Fura Ⅱ/Am indicator The total messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) of the myocardium was extracted and Northern blot analysis was performed with the probe collagen α 2(Ⅰ)cDNA The tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) activity was measured by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with electrochemical detector after having reacted with its substrate tyrosine and other reagents The catecholamine contents in brain homogenat were detected by HPLC method The comparison of pharmacokinetics of phenylalanine among SHR phe, SHRs and control Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats was made after intravenous injection of 3 H L phe (1?ml/kg) by PK GRAPH Program for kinetic calculation The 3H L phe uptake by CSMCs after incubating for difinite intervals was also detected and compared Results Phenylalanine could prevent the increase of BP with ages and the heart weight (heart/body weight index) The aortic media thickness and the collagen content in the myocardium were decreased significantly in SHR phe Whereas the dearranged cardiovascular structure was much improved The mechanisms might be direct and specific inhibition of the DNA synthesis and proliferation of cardiovascular cells which may be related to the inhibition of collagen α 2(Ⅰ)cDNA, c fos and c myc expression Other mechanisms may include decrease of intracellular [Ca 2+ ] i and an inhibition of central sympathetic activity due to the results of higher TH activity in the caudate nucleus and higher adrenaline content in the posterior hypothalamus Besides, partial recovery of phenylalanine metabolic aberrants existed in SHRs seems to be another possibility for its effectiveness Conclusions Phenylalanine intervention could exert a definite anti hypertension and anti cardiovascular remodeling effects on SHRs like seen in human essential hypertension Its mechanisms might be related to direct inhibition of growth in the cardiovascular cells, decrease of central sympathetic activity, the reverse of the exhibited phenylalanine metabolic aberrants in SHRs, and a decrement of intracellular [Ca 2+ ] i