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Metyrapone Treatment Protects Low-Density Lipoprotein Receptor Knockout Mice against Hypercorticosteronemia Development without Changing Atherosclerosis Susceptibility

The steroid 11beta-hydroxylase inhibitor metyrapone is able to effectively reverse the hypercortisolemia detected in human Cushing’s Syndrome patients. In this current preclinical study, we investigated whether metyrapone monotherapy can also reverse the hypercortisolemia-associated increase in athe...

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Autores principales: van der Sluis, Ronald J., van den Aardweg, Tim, Sijsenaar, Timothy J. P., Van Eck, Miranda, Hoekstra, Menno
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10526766/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37759687
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biom13091287
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author van der Sluis, Ronald J.
van den Aardweg, Tim
Sijsenaar, Timothy J. P.
Van Eck, Miranda
Hoekstra, Menno
author_facet van der Sluis, Ronald J.
van den Aardweg, Tim
Sijsenaar, Timothy J. P.
Van Eck, Miranda
Hoekstra, Menno
author_sort van der Sluis, Ronald J.
collection PubMed
description The steroid 11beta-hydroxylase inhibitor metyrapone is able to effectively reverse the hypercortisolemia detected in human Cushing’s Syndrome patients. In this current preclinical study, we investigated whether metyrapone monotherapy can also reverse the hypercortisolemia-associated increase in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk. In this instance, female low-density lipoprotein receptor knockout mice fed a cholic acid-containing high cholesterol/high fat diet to induce the development of hypercorticosteronemia and atherosclerotic lesions were treated twice daily with 100 mg/kg metyrapone for 4 weeks. Metyrapone effectively protected against hypercorticosteronemia development with endpoint plasma corticosterone levels remaining 43% lower than in controls (p < 0.01). Gene expression analysis in livers and adrenals validated that glucocorticoid receptor signaling was also reduced. Importantly, metyrapone treatment did not impact plasma cholesterol levels or alter atherosclerotic plaque areas or lesional collagen contents. However, metyrapone induced significant systemic lymphocytopenia as evident from marked decreases in splenic white pulp contents and thymus weights (−48% and −41%, respectively; p < 0.001). In conclusion, we have shown that treatment with metyrapone diminishes hypercorticosteronemia without affecting atherosclerosis susceptibility in cholic acid-containing high cholesterol/high fat diet-fed low-density lipoprotein receptor knockout mice. These preclinical findings highlight that restoring plasma glucocorticoid levels to normal is not necessarily sufficient to overcome the cardiovascular co-morbidities associated with human Cushing’s disease.
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spelling pubmed-105267662023-09-28 Metyrapone Treatment Protects Low-Density Lipoprotein Receptor Knockout Mice against Hypercorticosteronemia Development without Changing Atherosclerosis Susceptibility van der Sluis, Ronald J. van den Aardweg, Tim Sijsenaar, Timothy J. P. Van Eck, Miranda Hoekstra, Menno Biomolecules Communication The steroid 11beta-hydroxylase inhibitor metyrapone is able to effectively reverse the hypercortisolemia detected in human Cushing’s Syndrome patients. In this current preclinical study, we investigated whether metyrapone monotherapy can also reverse the hypercortisolemia-associated increase in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk. In this instance, female low-density lipoprotein receptor knockout mice fed a cholic acid-containing high cholesterol/high fat diet to induce the development of hypercorticosteronemia and atherosclerotic lesions were treated twice daily with 100 mg/kg metyrapone for 4 weeks. Metyrapone effectively protected against hypercorticosteronemia development with endpoint plasma corticosterone levels remaining 43% lower than in controls (p < 0.01). Gene expression analysis in livers and adrenals validated that glucocorticoid receptor signaling was also reduced. Importantly, metyrapone treatment did not impact plasma cholesterol levels or alter atherosclerotic plaque areas or lesional collagen contents. However, metyrapone induced significant systemic lymphocytopenia as evident from marked decreases in splenic white pulp contents and thymus weights (−48% and −41%, respectively; p < 0.001). In conclusion, we have shown that treatment with metyrapone diminishes hypercorticosteronemia without affecting atherosclerosis susceptibility in cholic acid-containing high cholesterol/high fat diet-fed low-density lipoprotein receptor knockout mice. These preclinical findings highlight that restoring plasma glucocorticoid levels to normal is not necessarily sufficient to overcome the cardiovascular co-morbidities associated with human Cushing’s disease. MDPI 2023-08-23 /pmc/articles/PMC10526766/ /pubmed/37759687 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biom13091287 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Communication
van der Sluis, Ronald J.
van den Aardweg, Tim
Sijsenaar, Timothy J. P.
Van Eck, Miranda
Hoekstra, Menno
Metyrapone Treatment Protects Low-Density Lipoprotein Receptor Knockout Mice against Hypercorticosteronemia Development without Changing Atherosclerosis Susceptibility
title Metyrapone Treatment Protects Low-Density Lipoprotein Receptor Knockout Mice against Hypercorticosteronemia Development without Changing Atherosclerosis Susceptibility
title_full Metyrapone Treatment Protects Low-Density Lipoprotein Receptor Knockout Mice against Hypercorticosteronemia Development without Changing Atherosclerosis Susceptibility
title_fullStr Metyrapone Treatment Protects Low-Density Lipoprotein Receptor Knockout Mice against Hypercorticosteronemia Development without Changing Atherosclerosis Susceptibility
title_full_unstemmed Metyrapone Treatment Protects Low-Density Lipoprotein Receptor Knockout Mice against Hypercorticosteronemia Development without Changing Atherosclerosis Susceptibility
title_short Metyrapone Treatment Protects Low-Density Lipoprotein Receptor Knockout Mice against Hypercorticosteronemia Development without Changing Atherosclerosis Susceptibility
title_sort metyrapone treatment protects low-density lipoprotein receptor knockout mice against hypercorticosteronemia development without changing atherosclerosis susceptibility
topic Communication
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10526766/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37759687
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biom13091287
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