Protective role of cannabinoid CB1 receptors and vascular effects of chronic administration of FAAH inhibitor URB597 in DOCA-salt hypertensive rats

AimsThis study examined whether the fall in blood pressure (BP) induced by the chronic inhibition of fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) by URB597 in deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA-salt) hypertensive rats correlates with endocannabinoid-mediated vascular changes.Main methodsFunctional studies were performed in isolated endothelium-intact aortas and small mesenteric arteries (sMAs) using organ bath technique and wire myography, respectively.Key findingsIn the DOCA-salt rats, methanandamide-stimulated relaxation was enhanced in sMAs or diminished in aortas. Its vasorelaxant effect in sMAs was sensitive to the antagonist of the Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1), capsazepine, in normo- and hypertensive animals and to the antagonist of the cannabinoid CB1 receptors, AM6545, only in DOCA-salt rats. Cannabinoid CB1 receptors were up-regulated merely in DOCA-salt sMAs. URB597 decreased elevated BP in DOCA-salt rats, medial hypertrophy in DOCA-salt aortas. In sMAs it reduced FAAH expression and restored the augmented phenylephrine-induced contraction in the DOCA-salt rats to the level obtained in normotensive controls. In normotensive rats it diminished endothelium-dependent relaxation and increased phenylephrine-induced contraction.SignificanceThe study showed the protective role of cannabinoid CB1 receptors in DOCA-salt sMAs. Reduction in BP after chronic administration of the FAAH inhibitor URB597 in DOCA-salt hypertensive rats only partially correlates with structural and functional changes in conductance and resistance vessels, respectively. Caution should be taken in studying cannabinoids and FAAH inhibitors as potential therapeutics, because of their vessel- and model-specific activities, and side effects connected with off-target response and activation of alternative pathways of anandamide metabolism.

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