Endothelin-1 in rat endotoxemia: mRNA expression and vasoreactivity in pulmonary and systemic circulations

Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is a vasoconstrictor and proinflammatory peptide, but its role in the vascular response to sepsis is unknown. After intraperitoneal injection of male Wistar rats (300 g) with 20 mg/kg of Salmonella enteritidis lipopolysaccharide (LPS), the expression of ET-1 mRNA was significantly increased in pulmonary artery and aorta within 1 h and arterial ET-1 concentration was elevated. Despite this increase in ET-1 production, there was no difference in baseline systemic or pulmonary arterial pressures between control and endotoxin-treated rats, and, furthermore, combined ETA/ETB receptor antagonism using bosentan produced reductions in systemic and pulmonary arterial pressures that were not greater than the modest fall seen in controls. However, bosentan completely antagonized the hemodynamic effects of exogenous ET-1 in controls but only weakly antagonized its effects in LPS animals. After LPS the initial (ETB-mediated) systemic hypotensive responses to ET-1 were attenuated, but the subsequent systemic presser responses were not. By contrast, the increases in pulmonary arterial pressure in response to ET-1 and the ETB receptor agonist sarafotoxin S6c were significantly reduced in LPS animals. Vascular ET-1 mRNA expression and arterial ET-1 concentration are elevated after LPS treatment in rats, but the functional activity of ET-1 cannot be exposed by combined ETA/ETB receptor antagonism, possibly because of an alteration in the functional status of ET receptors.