ToxSci Advance Access originally published online on June 14, 2007
Toxicological Sciences 2007 100(1):238-247; doi:10.1093/toxsci/kfm161
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Investigation of the Molecular Mechanisms Preceding PDE4 Inhibitor-Induced Vasculopathy in Rats: Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase 1, a Potential Predictive Biomarker
* Pfizer Global R&D, Drug Safety, Amboise, France
Université François-Rabelais de Tours, CNRS UMR 6542 Tours, France
1 To whom correspondence should be addressed at PFIZER Global R&D – Drug Safety, Z.I. Pocé sur Cisse, BP159, 37401 Amboise Cedex, France. Fax: +33-2-47-23-79-99. E-mail: nicolas.dagues{at}voila.fr.
Received April 11, 2007; accepted May 21, 2007
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Abstract |
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Phosphodiesterase (PDE) 4 inhibitors are a class of drugs that can provide novel therapies for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Their development is frequently hampered by the induction of vascular toxicity in rat mesenteric tissue during preclinical studies. Whereas these vascular lesions in rats have been well characterized histologically, little is known about their pathogenesis and in turn, sensitive and specific biomarkers for preclinical and clinical monitoring do not exist. In order to investigate the early molecular mechanisms underlying vascular injury, time-course studies were performed by treating rats for 2–24 h with high doses of the PDE4 inhibitor CI-1044. Transcriptomics analyses in mesenteric tissue were performed using oligonucleotide microarray and real-time RT-PCR technologies and compared to histopathological observations. In addition, protein measurements were performed in serum samples to identify soluble biomarkers of vascular injury. Our results indicate that molecular alterations preceded the histological observations of inflammatory and necrotic lesions in mesenteric arteries. Some gene expression changes suggest that the development of the lesions could follow a primary modulation of the vascular tone in response to the pharmacological effect of the compound. Activation of genes coding for pro- and antioxidant enzymes, cytokines, adhesion molecules, and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1 (TIMP-1) indicates that biomechanical stimuli may contribute to vascular oxidant stress, inflammation, and tissue remodeling. TIMP-1 appeared to be an early and sensitive predictive biomarker of the inflammatory and the tissue remodeling components of PDE4 inhibitor-induced vascular injury.
Key Words: vascular injury; PDE4 inhibitor; gene expression; TIMP-1; rat.