Involvement of arginase upregulation in diabetes- and angiotensin II-induced vascular dysfunction

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number 1 killer of men and women in the United States and the world. Diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and aging are some of the risk factors for CVD. A major cause of morbidity and mortality in CVD is vascular dysfunction, which progresses rapidly as the risk factors progress. Vascular dysfunction is characterized by a constellation of blood flow reducing pathologies, including impaired vasorelaxation and elevated arterial stiffening. The mechanisms leading to these vascular abnormalities are not well understood. We tested the hypothesis that arginase, an enzyme in the urea cycle, mediates vascular dysfunction in hypertension and obesity related diabetes. Arginase (ARG) can compete with nitric oxide (NO) synthase for their common substrate, L-arginine. Increased arginase can also provide more ornithine for synthesis of polyamines via ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) and proline/collagen via ornithine aminotransferase (OAT), leading to vascular cell proliferation and collagen formation, respectively. We hypothesized that elevated arginase activity is involved in Ang II-induced vascular dysfunction and that limiting its activity can prevent these changes. We tested this by studies in C57BL/6J mice lacking one copy of the ARG1 gene that were treated with Ang II (1 mg/kg/day, 4 weeks). We demonstrated that Ang II induces smooth muscle cell proliferation, collagen synthesis, and arterial fibrosis and stiffness via a mechanism involving increased arginase activity. Furthermore, we examined the role of arginase in vascular dysfunctions and pathologies associated with obesity-related type 2 diabetes in mice fed with high-fat/high-sucrose (HFHS) diet for 6 months. This model produced a clinical presentation and pathophysiological relevance to the human condition in obesity related type 2 diabetes. We demonstrated that HFHS diet impaired endothelial dependent vasorelaxation and increased arterial stiffness in WT mice, but not in mice treated with arginase inhibitor ABH. Endothelial cell specific knockout of ARG1 (EC-A1-/-) in mice also prevented HFHS induced vascular dysfunctions. Aortic perivascular collagen deposition was significantly higher in HFHS mice compared to normal diet. Furthermore, marked increase in vascular cell adhesion molecule expression and macrophage infiltration into the aortic walls was observed with HFHS diet. Additionally, plasma lipid peroxidase activity, a measure of systemic oxidative stress, was also markedly increased in HFHS mice. These changes were prevented in ABH treated mice and EC-A1-/- mice. These studies suggest that enhanced ARG1 activity promotes vascular dysfunctions associated with elevated Ang II levels or obesity related diabetes.