Despite intensive investigation, disorders of blood pressure regulation -- both hypertension and hypotension -- continue to be serious, widespread and intractable medical problems. Relatively few effective approaches to management of blood pressure dysregulation have emerged over the last few decades so novel strategies are needed. Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) was first discovered in the cardiovascular system, but the roles of endogenous 5-HT in cardiovascular physiology and pathophysiology are not well defined. This is because 5-HT has complex effects within the CV system that are mediated by several distinct receptor subtypes. This is well-illustrated when considering the endpoint of blood pressure. Depending on the site of injection, the dose administered, and the receptor targeted, serotonergic drugs can raise or elevate blood pressure. Of the 5-HT receptors expressed in the CV system (the 5-HT 1B/1D, 5-HT2A, 5-HT3, 5-HT4 and 5- HT7 receptor), 5-HT has the highest affinity for the 5-HT7 receptor. Since endogenous plasma and tissue levels of 5-HT are estimated to be in the low nM range, endogenous 5-HT likely acts primarily at 5-HT7 receptors to effect changes in blood pressure. Previous studies support this conjecture regarding the acute (seconds to minutes) effects of exogenous 5-HT. Over the last decade, we have proven this is also true for the chronic (days to weeks) blood pressure effects of exogenous 5-HT, using both traditional pharmacological approaches and a new genetic model (5-HT7 receptor knockout rat) that we developed. Therefore, we now are well-positioned to test the overall hypothesis that endogenous 5-HT modifies blood pressure in normal and pathophysiological conditions primarily by activation of 5-HT7 receptors in the peripheral vasculature, with the ultimate goal of capitalizing on 5-HT7 receptor pharmacology to treat disorders of blood pressure regulation. We propose to test this hypothesis via three Specific Aims:
Aim 1 : To test the hypothesis that 5-HT7 receptor activation dilates the microcirculation;
Aim 2 : To test the hypothesis that the vascular 5-HT7 receptor is (constitutively) activated endogenously to lower blood pressure in normal rats;
and Aim 3 : To test that the hypotension created in rat models with increased release or formation of 5-HT is 5-HT7 receptor-dependent. An integrated series of techniques that are the strengths of our combined laboratories are proposed. These include isolated tissue bath measurement of isometric contraction, measures of receptor activation that include the concept of constitutive activity, and radiotelemetry to measure cardiovascular parameters in conscious rats. Our established expertise is combined with newly gained abilities to image splanchnic venous and arterial diameters in the whole rat. This project is aimed to discover the unique ability of 5-HT to selectively activate the venous (and possibly micro) circulation through the 5-HT7 receptor and reduce blood pressure, a promising therapeutic lead for numerous cardiovascular disorders.
Serotonin (5-HT) can stimulate many receptors, the most recent of which was identified as the 5-HT7 receptor; 5-HT has high affinity for this receptor. We have discovered a promising activity of the 5-HT7 receptor to mediate endogenously beneficial cardiovascular effects in vivo, and to be essential for the ability of 5-HT, given exogenously, to lower blood pressure in a (one) way previously undiscovered: splanchnic venodilation. Because cardiovascular disease (hypertension, heart failure) plagues our world as the leading cause of death and now close to the US population has hypertension, new understandings of CV regulation and treatment and disease are needed, and this project provides just this.
