Stimulation of endothelial cell production of vasoconstrictive substances by hypertensive sera.

The endothelial cell regulates vessel tone by elaborating a number of vasoactive substances such as thromboxane and endothelin, both of which are highly vaosconstrictive, and prostacyclin and nitric oxide, both of which are vasodilatory. The current study examines the postulate that one of the mechanisms responsible for the increased vessel tone found in hypertension is the presence of substances in the sera of patients with this disorder that stimulates selectively the endothelial cell production of thromboxane and endothelin. Sera from ten patients with mild hypertension and from 11 age-matched controls were incubated with human umbilical arterial endothelial cells and the concentrations of endothelin, thromboxane, prostacyclin, and nitric oxide produced by the cells was measured in the supernatant. The results of the assays showed that the amounts of thromboxane and endothelin produced by endothelial cells in response to stimulation by hypertensive sera were significantly higher than the amounts produced in response to control sera; in comparison, the amounts of prostacyclin and nitric oxide produced by the cells in response to either hypertensive sera or control sera were not significantly different. The findings suggest that a mechanism that may be responsible for the increased vascular tone found in hypertension is the presence of substances in hypertensive sera that stimulate endothelial cells selectively to produce increased amounts of the vasoconstrictive hormones, endothelin and thromboxane.