Melatonin attenuates intermittent hypoxia induced oxidative stress and tissue inflammation in rat adrenal medulla

This journal issue is proceedings of ICSM 2010Poster SessionHeme oxygenase (HO) catalyzes heme into carbon monoxide, free iron and biliverdin. A large amount of data demonstrates that HO-1, an inducible isoform of HO, can exert vaso-protective effects. However, such vascular benefit in diabetic vasculopathy remains largely unknown. The present study investigates the impact of HO-1 induction on endothelial dysfunction in type 2 diabetic db/db mice. Diabetic db/db and non-diabetic db/m+ mice were treated with hemin (a potent inducer of HO-1) for two weeks or vehicle. The aortae were isolated and suspended in myograph for force measurement and levels of marker proteins were determined by the Western blotting method. Two-week hemin administration restored the impaired endotheliumdependent relaxation to acetylcholine in db/db mice, which could be reversed by co-treatment with HO-1 inhibitor SnMP. The effect of hemin could also be …link_to_OA_fulltextThe 14th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Institute of Cardiovascular Science and Medicine (ICSM), Hong Kong, China, 18 December 2010. In Journal of the Hong Kong College of Cardiology, 2010, v. 18 n. 2, p. 76, abstract no. P2