Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol.,
Volume 22, Number 3, March, 2000 323-332
Modulation of Angiotensin II Receptor Expression during
Development and Regression of Hypoxic Pulmonary Hypertension
Catherine
Chassagne,
Saadia
Eddahibi,
Christophe
Adamy,
Dominique
Rideau,
Françoise
Marotte,
Jean-Luc
Dubois-Randé,
Serge
Adnot,
Jane-Lyse
Samuel,
and
Emmanuel
Teiger
INSERM U127, Institut Fédératif de Recherche Circulation, Hôpital Lariboisière, Université Denis Diderot, Paris; and
INSERM U492 and INSERM U400, Institut de Médecine Moleculaire, Hôpital Henri Mondor, Créteil, France
Lung vessel muscularization during hypoxic pulmonary hypertension is associated with local renin-angiotensin system activation. The expression of angiotensin II (Ang II) AT1 and AT2 receptors in this setting is
not well known and has never been investigated during normoxia recovery. We determined both chronic
hypoxia and normoxia recovery patterns of AT1 and AT2 expression and distal muscularization in the
same lungs using in situ binding, reverse transcriptase/polymerase chain reaction, and histology. We also used an isolated perfused lung system to evaluate the vasotonic effects of AT1 and AT2 during chronic exposure to hypoxia with and without subsequent normoxia recovery. Hypoxia produced right ventricular
hypertrophy of about 100% after 3 wk, which reversed with normoxia recovery. Hypoxia for 2 wk was associated with simultaneous increases (P < 0.05) in AT1 and AT2 binding (16-fold and 18-fold, respectively) and in muscularized vessels in alveolar ducts (2.8-fold) and walls (3.7-fold). An increase in AT2
messenger RNA (mRNA) (P < 0.05) was also observed, whereas AT1 mRNA remained unchanged. After
3 wk of hypoxia, muscularization was at its peak, whereas all receptors and transcripts showed decreases
(P < 0.05 versus hypoxia 2 wk for AT1 mRNA), which became significant after 1 wk of normoxia recovery (P < 0.05 versus hypoxia 2 wk). Significant reversal of muscularization (P < 0.01) was found only after 3 wk of normoxia recovery in alveolar wall vessels. Finally, the AT1 antagonist losartan completely inhibited the vasopressor effect of Ang II in hypoxic and normoxia-restored lungs, whereas the AT2 agonist
CGP42112A had no effect. Our data indicate that in lungs, chronic hypoxia-induced distal muscularization
is associated with early and transient increases in AT2 and AT1 receptors probably owing to hypoxia-
dependent transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms, respectively. They also indicate
that the vasotonic response to Ang II is mainly due to the AT1 subtype.