Treatment of newborn rats with a VEGF receptor inhibitor causes pulmonary hypertension and abnormal lung structure

Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol. 2002 Sep;283(3):L555-62. doi: 10.1152/ajplung.00408.2001.

Abstract

To determine whether disruption of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-VEGF receptor (VEGFR) signaling in the newborn has long-term effects on lung structure and function, we injected 1-day-old newborn rat pups with a single dose of Su-5416, a VEGFR inhibitor, or vehicle (controls). Lungs from infant (3-wk-old) and adult (3- to 4-mo-old) rats treated with Su-5416 as newborns showed reductions in arterial density (82 and 31%, respectively) and alveolar counts (45 and 29%) compared with controls. Neonatal treatment with Su-5416 increased right ventricle weight to body wt ratios (4.2-fold and 2.0-fold) and pulmonary arterial wall thickness measurements (2.7-fold and 1.6-fold) in infant and adult rats, respectively, indicating marked pulmonary hypertension. We conclude that treatment of newborn rats with the VEGFR inhibitor Su-5416 impaired pulmonary vascular growth and postnatal alveolarization and caused pulmonary hypertension and that these effects were long term, persisting well into adulthood.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Angiography
  • Animals
  • Animals, Newborn / physiology*
  • Birth Weight / drug effects
  • Chronic Disease
  • Hypertension, Pulmonary / chemically induced*
  • Hypertension, Pulmonary / diagnostic imaging
  • Hypertension, Pulmonary / pathology*
  • Hypertension, Pulmonary / physiopathology
  • Hypertrophy, Right Ventricular / etiology
  • Hypoxia / complications
  • Indoles*
  • Lung / pathology
  • Pulmonary Alveoli / pathology
  • Pulmonary Artery / pathology
  • Pulmonary Circulation / drug effects
  • Pyrroles*
  • Rats
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley
  • Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Receptors, Growth Factor / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Receptors, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor
  • Stress, Physiological / etiology
  • Stress, Physiological / physiopathology

Substances

  • Indoles
  • Pyrroles
  • Receptors, Growth Factor
  • Semaxinib
  • Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases
  • Receptors, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor