Melatonin attenuates intermittent hypoxia induced oxidative stress and tissue inflammation in rat adrenal medulla

Abstract

Heme oxygenase (HO) catalyzes heme into carbon monoxide, free iron and biliverdin. A large amount of data demonstrates that HO-1, an inducible isoform of HO, can exert vaso-protective effects. However, such vascular benefit in diabetic vasculopathy remains largely unknown. The present study investigates the impact of HO-1 induction on endothelial dysfunction in type 2 diabetic db/db mice. Diabetic db/db and non-diabetic db/m+ mice were treated with hemin (a potent inducer of HO-1) for two weeks or vehicle. The aortae were isolated and suspended in myograph for force measurement and levels of marker proteins were determined by the Western blotting method. Two-week hemin administration restored the impaired endotheliumdependent relaxation to acetylcholine in db/db mice, which could be reversed by co-treatment with HO-1 inhibitor SnMP. The effect of hemin could also be …