endothelin-1 and diminazene-aceturate

The angiotensin-converting enzyme 2/angiotensin-(1-7)/Mas axis represents a promising target for inducing stroke neuroprotection. Here, we explored stroke-induced changes in expression and activity of endogenous angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 and other system components in Sprague-Dawley rats. To evaluate the clinical feasibility of treatments that target this axis and that may act in synergy with stroke-induced changes, we also tested the neuroprotective effects of diminazene aceturate, an angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 activator, administered systemically post stroke. Among rats that underwent experimental endothelin-1-induced ischemic stroke, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 activity in the cerebral cortex and striatum increased in the 24 hours after stroke. Serum angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 activity was decreased within 4 hours post stroke, but rebounded to reach higher than baseline levels 3 days post stroke. Treatment after stroke with systemically applied diminazene resulted in decreased infarct volume and improved neurological function without apparent increases in cerebral blood flow. Central infusion of A-779, a Mas receptor antagonist, resulted in larger infarct volumes in diminazene-treated rats, and central infusion of the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 inhibitor MLN-4760 alone worsened neurological function. The dynamic alterations of the protective angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 pathway after stroke suggest that it may be a favorable therapeutic target. Indeed, significant neuroprotection resulted from poststroke angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 activation, likely via Mas signaling in a blood flow-independent manner. Our findings suggest that stroke therapeutics that target the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2/angiotensin-(1-7)/Mas axis may interact cooperatively with endogenous stroke-induced changes, lending promise to their further study as neuroprotective agents.

Topics: ADAM Proteins; ADAM17 Protein; Angiotensin II; Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2; Animals; Cerebral Cortex; Cerebral Infarction; Cerebrovascular Circulation; Corpus Striatum; Diminazene; Disease Models, Animal; Endothelin-1; Enzyme Activation; Imidazoles; Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery; Infusions, Intraventricular; Leucine; Male; Neuroprotective Agents; Peptide Fragments; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A; Proto-Oncogene Mas; Proto-Oncogene Proteins; Random Allocation; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; Renin-Angiotensin System; RNA, Messenger

Activation of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), production of angiotensin-(1-7) [Ang-(1-7)] and stimulation of the Ang-(1-7) receptor Mas exert beneficial actions in various peripheral cardiovascular diseases, largely through opposition of the deleterious effects of angiotensin II via its type 1 receptor. Here we considered the possibility that Ang-(1-7) may exert beneficial effects against CNS damage and neurological deficits produced by cerebral ischaemic stroke. We determined the effects of central administration of Ang-(1-7) or pharmacological activation of ACE2 on the cerebral damage and behavioural deficits elicited by endothelin-1 (ET-1)-induced middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), a model of cerebral ischaemia. The results of the present study demonstrated that intracerebroventricular infusion of either Ang-(1-7) or an ACE2 activator, diminazine aceturate (DIZE), prior to and following ET-1-induced MCAO significantly attenuated the cerebral infarct size and neurological deficits measured 72 h after the insult. These beneficial actions of Ang-(1-7) and DIZE were reversed by co-intracerebroventricular administration of the Mas receptor inhibitor, A-779. Neither the Ang-(1-7) nor the DIZE treatments altered the reduction in cerebral blood flow elicited by ET-1. Lastly, intracerebroventricular administration of Ang-(1-7) significantly reduced the increase in inducible nitric oxide synthase mRNA expression within the cerebral infarct that occurs following ET-1-induced MCAO. This is the first demonstration of cerebroprotective properties of the ACE2-Ang-(1-7)-Mas axis during ischaemic stroke, and suggests that the mechanism of the Ang-(1-7) protective action includes blunting of inducible nitric oxide synthase expression.

Topics: Angiotensin I; Angiotensin II; Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2; Animals; Diminazene; Endothelin-1; Enzyme Activation; Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery; Male; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; Peptide Fragments; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A; Proto-Oncogene Mas; Proto-Oncogene Proteins; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; Stroke