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    Hyperinsulinism, Insulin Resistance and Impaired Fasting Glucose Revealing an Insulin Autoimmune Syndrome

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    We report a case of a 55-year-old woman who was evaluated for multiple episodes of late postprandial hypoglycaemia. We diagnosed her condition as insulin autoimmune syndrome (Hirata disease) because of a high insulin autoantibody (IAA) titre in association with high levels of plasmatic insulin and hypoglycaemia in a patient with no history of exogenous insulin administration and the exclusion of other causes of late postprandial hypoglycaemia

    Effects of angiotensin II, arginine vasopressin and tromboxane A2 in renal vascular bed: role of rho-kinase

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    Angiotensin II (Ang II), arginine vasopressin (AVP) and tromboxane A(2) (TxA(2)) are dissimilar vasoconstrictors involved in regulating renal circulation. Whereas Ang II is primarily a physiological modulator, AVP and TxA(2) play important roles under pathological conditions. Previously, we have shown variable importance of intracellular Ca(2+) and protein kinase C for their mode of action (Ang II > AVP >U-46619), but the cell signalling via rho-associated kinase (ROK) is a common pathway. The aim of this study was to determine their sites of action in the renal vascular bed and the corresponding role of ROK at the microvascular level. METHODS: Glomerular blood flow (GBF) and luminal diameter of different vessels (10-70 micro m) were measured in the split hydronephrotic kidney of anaesthetized rats. The tissue bath concentration of Ang II, AVP or the TxA(2) agonist U-46619 was adjusted to reduce GBF by approximately 50%. The measurements were repeated after adding a sub-maximal dose of the ROK inhibitor Y-27632 into the bath. RESULTS: Ang II constricted all vessels significantly, the constriction being least in the proximal segment of the arcuate artery ( approximately 70 micro m). Significant constrictions due to AVP were found only in interlobular and arcuate arteries (20-70 micro m), but not in the afferent and efferent arterioles. U-46619 constricted only the arcuate artery (> or = 50 micro m). Y-27632 (10(-4) M) dilated all vessels significantly and increased GBF by 65%. Thereafter, effects of all agonists were severely attenuated. Control reductions in GBF could be obtained at higher concentrations of AVP (10-fold) and U-46619 (5-fold) and a lesser GBF reduction with Ang II (100-fold) without changes in the respective patterns of vascular constriction. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that the agonists, in the order Ang II, AVP and TxA(2), constrict larger vessels within the renal vascular tree via activation of ROK. Therefore, ROK inhibitors may provide a therapeutic tool to antagonize pathological vasospasm of conduit vessels, which are resistant to other vasodilators

    Influence of endothelium-derived relaxing factor on renal microvessels and pressure-dependent vasodilation

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    The influence of endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF) on renal microvessels and autoregulation was visualized in vivo, in the split hydronephrotic kidney of rats. EDRF synthesis was inhibited by local administration of 10(-5) M NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME). Diameters of arcuate arteries decreased by 17%. In cortical vessels efferent arterioles constricted more (13-16%) than interlobular arteries and afferent arterioles (7-12%). Cortical glomerular blood flow (GBF) decreased by 46% after L-NAME. A similar behavior of blood flow and vascular diameters was also observed in juxtamedullary (JM) arterioles. The responses to acetylcholine but not to sodium nitroprusside were attenuated after L-NAME. After local administration of L-arginine (10(-3) M) diameters of all vessels and GBF increased, vascular responses to L-NAME were blunted. Stepwise reduction of renal perfusion pressure revealed that autoregulation was preserved in cortical vessels after L-NAME. In JM arterioles, which do not autoregulate in female Wistar rats, autoregulation of GBF was enhanced after L-NAME. These data suggest that tonic formation of EDRF influences basal renal hemodynamics to a considerable extent. EDRF may also impair autoregulation of JM glomeruli without disturbing autoregulation of cortical glomeruli
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