Vascular leakage induced by exposure to arsenic via increased production of NO, hydroxyl radical and peroxynitrite.

Previous studies have shown that in situ exposure to arsenic induced increased vascular leakage. However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Reactive nitrogen and oxygen species such as nitric oxide (NO) and hydroxyl radical (OH(-)) are known to affect vascular permeability. Therefore, the goal of our present studies is to investigate the functional impact of the generation of NO or OH(-) on arsenic-induced vascular leakage. Vascular permeability changes were evaluated by means of Evans blue (EB) assay. Rats were anesthetized and intravenously injected with EB. Permeability changes were induced in back skin by intradermal injections of sodium arsenite mixed with NOS inhibitor: N(omega)-Nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) or aminoguanidine (AG) and OH(-) scavenger: 1,3 Dimethyl-2 thiourea (DMTU). Experiments were also performed to determine whether DMTU mixed with L-NAME would further inhibit arsenic-induced vascular leakage as compared with attenuation effects by either DMTU or L-NAME. One hour after administration, EB accumulated in the skin was extracted and quantified. Both L-NAME (0.02, 0.1 and 0.5 micromol/site) and DMTU (0.05, 0.2 and 1.2 micromol/site) inhibited the increase in vascular leakage induced by arsenite. However, only high dose (1 micromol/site) of AG significantly attenuated arsenite-induced vascular leakage. In contrast, neither D-NAME (0.02, 0.1 and 0.5 micromol/site) nor AG (0.04 and 0.2 micromol/site) attenuated increased vascular leakage by arsenic. DMTU mixed with L-NAME caused no further inhibition of arsenic-induced vascular leakage by either DMTU or L-NAME. The techniques of India ink and immunostaining were used to demonstrate both vascular labeling and nitrotyrosine staining in tissue treated with arsenic. L-NAME apparently reduced the density of leaky vessels and the levels of peroxynitrite staining induced by arsenite. These results suggest that NO, OH(-) and peroxynitrite play a role in increased vascular permeability induced by arsenic exposure.