Oral Intake of EPA:DHA 6:1 by Middle-Aged Rats for One Week Improves Age-Related Endothelial Dysfunction in Both the Femoral Artery and Vein: Role of Cyclooxygenases

Sébastien Gaertner (1) , Cyril Auger (1) , Muhammad A Farooq (1) , Brigitte Pollet (1) , Sonia Khemais-Benkhiat (1) , Zahid R Niazi (1) , Sophie Schrevens (1) , Sin-Hee Park (1) , Florence Toti (1) , Dominique Stephan (1, 2) , Valérie B Schini-Kerth (1)

1 NanoRegMed - Nanomédecine Régénérative
2 Service d’Hypertension et Maladies Vasculaires

In humans, aging is associated with endothelial dysfunction and an increased risk of venous thromboembolism. Although intake of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) at a ratio of 6:1 by old rats improved the endothelial dysfunction in arteries, the impact on veins remains unclear. Eight-month-old male Wistar rats were either untreated or orally administered corn oil, EPA:DHA 1:1, or EPA:DHA 6:1 (500 mg/kg/d) for seven days. Vascular reactivity was studied by myography. In middle-aged femoral artery rings, acetylcholine caused a partial relaxation at low concentrations and a contractile response at high concentrations, whereas in the old femoral vein only a partial relaxation was observed. The EPA:DHA 6:1 treatment blunted the contractile response to acetylcholine in the middle-aged femoral artery and both EPA:DHA 6:1 and 1:1 increased the relaxation to acetylcholine in the old femoral vein. No such effects were observed with corn oil. Both the non-selective cyclooxygenase inhibitor indomethacin and the COX-1 inhibitor SC-560 increased the relaxation to acetylcholine in the middle-aged femoral artery whereas the COX-2 inhibitor NS-398 increased that in the middle-aged femoral vein. In conclusion, our results indicate that aging is associated with an endothelial dysfunction in the femoral artery and vein, which can be improved by EPA:DHA 6:1 treatment-most likely via a cyclooxygenase-dependent mechanism.

Keywords: endothelial dysfunction; aging; omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids; cyclooxygenases; venous thrombosis

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Human health and pathology; Cardiology and cardiovascular system; Life Sciences [q-bio]; Pharmaceutical sciences; Pharmacology

Sébastien Gaertner, Cyril Auger, Muhammad A Farooq, Brigitte Pollet, Sonia Khemais-Benkhiat, et al.. Oral Intake of EPA:DHA 6:1 by Middle-Aged Rats for One Week Improves Age-Related Endothelial Dysfunction in Both the Femoral Artery and Vein: Role of Cyclooxygenases. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2020, 21, pp.113749. ⟨10.3390/ijms21030920⟩. ⟨hal-03033691⟩