Heparin regulates endothelin production through endothelium-derived nitric oxide in human endothelial cells.

K Yokokawa; H Tahara; M Kohno; A K Mandal; M Yanagisawa; T Takeda

doi:10.1172/JCI116805

First Department of Internal Medicine, Osaka City University Medical School, Japan.

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First Department of Internal Medicine, Osaka City University Medical School, Japan.

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First Department of Internal Medicine, Osaka City University Medical School, Japan.

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First Department of Internal Medicine, Osaka City University Medical School, Japan.

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First Department of Internal Medicine, Osaka City University Medical School, Japan.

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First Department of Internal Medicine, Osaka City University Medical School, Japan.

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Published in Volume 92, Issue 4 on October 1, 1993
J Clin Invest. 1993;92(4):2080–2085. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI116805.
© 1993 The American Society for Clinical Investigation

Published October 1, 1993 - Version history

Heparin shows blood pressure lowering effect in hypertensive patients and animal models. The present study examined the effect of heparin on vasoconstrictor endothelin-1 (ET-1) production in cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (ECs) to elucidate the mechanism of antihypertensive effect of heparin. Heparin suppressed both basal and thrombin-stimulated ET-1 mRNA expression paralleled with a decrease in ET-1 peptide release in a dose-dependent manner. Heparin concomitantly enhanced nitric oxide (NO) formation measured by NO2/NO3 levels and cGMP production in ECs. These enhancements were more marked when ECs were stimulated by thrombin. However, these heparin's effects were blunted in the presence of endothelium-derived nitric oxide (EDNO) synthesizing inhibitor NG-monomethyl L-arginine. Therefore, these results suggest that suppression of ET-1 production by heparin is EDNO mediated.

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