Acute and chronic hyperglycemia elicit JIP1/JNK-mediated endothelial vasodilator dysfunction of retinal arterioles

Abstract

PURPOSE. Hyperglycemia, a hallmark of diabetes mellitus, is associated with retinal inflammation and impairment of endothelium-dependent nitric oxide (NO)-mediated dilation of retinal arterioles. However, molecular mechanisms involved in this diminished endothelial vasodilator function remain unclear. We examined whether inflammatory stress-activated kinases, c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38, contribute to retinal arteriolar dysfunction during exposure to acute and chronic hyperglycemia. METHODS. Retinal arterioles were isolated from streptozocin-induced diabetic pigs (2 weeks; chronic hyperglycemia, 471 ± 23 mg/dL) or age-matched control pigs (euglycemia, 79 ± 5 mg/dL), and then cannulated and pressurized for vasoreactivity study. For acute hyperglycemia study, vessels from nondiabetic pigs were exposed intraluminally to high glucose (25 mM ≈ 450 mg/dL) for 2 hours, and normal glucose (5 mM ≈ 90 mg/dL) served as the control. RESULTS. Endothelium-dependent vasodilation to bradykinin was reduced in a similar manner after exposure to acute or chronic hyperglycemia. Administration of NO synthase inhibitor NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) nearly abolished vasodilations either in control (euglycemia and normal glucose) or hyperglycemic (acute and chronic) vessels. Treatment of either acute or chronic hyperglycemic vessels with JNK inhibitor SP600125 or JNKinteracting protein-1 (JIP1) inhibitor BI-78D3, but not p38 inhibitor SB203580, preserved bradykinin-induced dilation in an L-NAME-sensitive manner. By contrast, endotheliumindependent vasodilation to sodium nitroprusside was unaffected by acute or chronic hyperglycemia. CONCLUSIONS. Activation of JIP1/JNK signaling in retinal arterioles during exposure to acute or chronic hyperglycemia leads to selective impairment of endothelium-dependent NO-mediated dilation. Therapeutic targeting of the vascular JNK pathway may improve retinal endothelial vasodilator function during early diabetes.