TY - JOUR T1 - Role of the Heme Oxygenases in Abnormalities of the Mesenteric Circulation in Cirrhotic Rats JF - Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics JO - J Pharmacol Exp Ther SP - 636 LP - 643 DO - 10.1124/jpet.103.057315 VL - 308 IS - 2 AU - David Sacerdoti AU - Nader G. Abraham AU - Adebayo O. Oyekan AU - Liming Yang AU - Angelo Gatta AU - John C. McGiff Y1 - 2004/02/01 UR - http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/308/2/636.abstract N2 - Carbon monoxide (CO), a product of heme metabolism by heme-oxygenase (HO), has biological actions similar to those of nitric oxide (NO). The role of CO in decreasing vascular responses to constrictor agents produced by experimental cirrhosis induced by carbon tetrachloride was evaluated before and after inhibition of HO with tin-mesoporphyrin (SnMP) in the perfused superior mesenteric vasculature (SMV) of cirrhotic and normal rats and in normal rats transfected with the human HO-1 (HHO-1) gene. Perfusion pressure and vasoconstrictor responses of the SMV to KCl, phenylephrine (PE), and endothelin-1 (ET-1) were decreased in cirrhotic rats. SnMP increased SMV perfusion pressure and restored the constrictor responses of the SMV to KCl, PE, and ET-1 in cirrhotic rats. The relative roles of NO and CO in producing hyporeactivity of the SMV to PE in cirrhotic rats were examined. Vasoconstrictor responses to PE were successively augmented by stepwise inhibition of CO and NO production, suggesting a complementary role for these gases in the regulation of reactivity of the SMV. Expression of constitutive but not of inducible HO (HO-1) was increased in the SMV of cirrhotic rats as was HO activity. Administration of adenovirus containing HHO-1 gene produced detection of HHO-1 RNA and increased HO activity in the SMV within 7 days. Rats transfected with HO-1 demonstrated reduction in both perfusion pressure and vasoconstrictor responses to PE in the SMV. We propose that HO is an essential component in mechanisms that modulate reactivity of the mesenteric circulation in experimental hepatic cirrhosis in rats. The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics ER -