Department of Histology and Cytophysiology, Medical University of Bialystok, Białystok, Poland.
Biofactors. 2012 Nov-Dec;38(6):407-15. doi: 10.1002/biof.1037. Epub 2012 Aug 8.
The prevalence of CART (cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript) throughout the organism, multiplicity of functions fulfilled by that peptide, and the collected evidence confirming CART contribution to blood pressure regulation prompted us to undertake the research aiming to identify, localize, and assess changes in CART-immunopositive structures of the gastrointestinal tract (GI tract) of rats with renovascular hypertension. The two-kidney one-clip model of arterial hypertension was used to evaluate the location and density of CART-containing structures in the stomach (cardia, fundus, and pylorus), duodenum, jejunum, ileum, and colon of hypertensive rats. The study was carried out on the GI tract of 20 rats. Ten rats were subjected to the renal artery clipping procedure and after a 6-week period each of them developed stable hypertension. An immunohistochemical localization of CART was performed on paraffin GI tract sections from all the study animals. CART was detected in the extensive population of neurons, particularly within the myenteric plexuses all along the GI tract, and also in neuroendocrine cells, being especially numerous in the stomach and a few in the small intestine. The hypertension significantly increased the density of CART-positive structures in the rat GI tract. The differences between the hypertensive rats and the control animals concerned not only the density of CART-immunoreactive structures but also the staining intensity. As this study provides novel findings, we are planning further molecular examinations to better understand the impact of hypertension on the functioning and activity of CART in the GI tract.
CART（可卡因和安非他命调节转录物）在整个生物体中的普遍存在、该肽所发挥的多种功能，以及证实 CART 有助于血压调节的综合证据，促使我们开展了这项研究，旨在确定、定位和评估患有肾血管性高血压的大鼠胃肠道 (GI 道) 中 CART 免疫阳性结构的变化。我们使用双肾一夹动脉高血压模型来评估高血压大鼠胃（贲门、胃底和幽门）、十二指肠、空肠、回肠和结肠中含 CART 结构的位置和密度。这项研究在 20 只大鼠的 GI 道上进行。10 只大鼠接受了肾动脉夹闭手术，6 周后，每只大鼠都发展出了稳定的高血压。我们对所有研究动物的 GI 道石蜡切片进行了 CART 的免疫组织化学定位。在整个 GI 道的神经丛中，特别是在肌间神经丛中，以及神经内分泌细胞中，都检测到了广泛存在的 CART 阳性神经元，在胃中尤为丰富，在小肠中则很少。高血压显著增加了大鼠 GI 道中 CART 阳性结构的密度。高血压大鼠和对照动物之间的差异不仅体现在 CART 免疫反应性结构的密度上，还体现在染色强度上。由于这项研究提供了新的发现，我们计划进行进一步的分子检查，以更好地了解高血压对 GI 道中 CART 的功能和活性的影响。
