Oral treatment and in vitro incubation with fructose modify vascular prostanoid production in the rat.

1.-- In the rat, a fructose-enriched diet induces hyperglycaemia, hypertriglyceridaemia, insulin resistance and hypertension; a model which resembles the human metabolic syndrome. 2.-- Prostanoids, metabolites of arachidonic acid, include vasoactive substances synthesized and released from the vascular wall that have been implicated in the increase of peripheral resistance, one of the mechanisms involved in the fructose-induced hypertension. 3.-- The aim of the present study was to: (i) analyse the effects of the in vitro incubation with fructose on the production and release of prostanoids in rat thoracic aorta and in rat mesenteric bed and (ii) compare the effects of incubation with those of the in vivo acute and chronic treatment of rats with fructose and with the combination of both in vivo and in vitro procedures. 4.-- Blood pressure, glycaemia and triglyceridaemia were significantly elevated in both 4- and 22-week fructose-treated groups. Meanwhile, body and heart weight as well as insulinaemia were similar between experimental animals and controls. 5.-- In aortae, 4 weeks of Fructose treatment did not modify the prostanoid pattern release, but in vitro incubation decreased prostacyclin (PGI(2)) production. However, after 22 weeks, fructose treatment and incubation exerted the same effect. 6.-- In mesenteric bed, after 4 weeks, the incubation and the combination of both procedures reduced the release of the vasodilators PGI(2) and PGE(2), while fructose treatment only diminished the PGE(2) release. On the contrary, the production of the vasoconstrictor thromboxane A(2) (TXA(2)) was enhanced by incubation and both the procedures. After 22 weeks, fructose treatment increased PGI(2) release, while it was reduced by incubation. The combination of both did not modify this peripheral resistance when compared with controls. Finally, incubation of tissues from treated rats increased the release of the vasoconstrictors, PGF(2alpha) and TXA(2). 7.-- In conclusion, the mesenteric bed, a resistance vascular bed, seems to be more sensitive than the aorta, a conductance vessel, to the effects of fructose on prostanoid production. This difference could be related to a more relevant role of resistance vessels in the regulation of peripheral resistance and consequently of blood pressure. The observed effects should contribute to a shift in the balance of the release of prostanoid in favour of vasoconstrictor metabolites. This phenomenon could be related to an increase in the peripheral resistance and the mild hypertension observed in the fructose-treated rats.