Insulin Stimulates Production and Secretion of Endothelin From Bovine Endothelial Cells

Endothelin, a vasoconstrictor peptide secreted from endothelial cells, has been thought to play a role in various forms of vascular disease. Diabetes mellitus is well known for its association with accelerated atherosclerosis and microvascular damage. Although the basis for the vessel insult is multifactorial, hyperinsulinemia is thought to contribute by an unknown mechanism. In this study, we sought to determine whether insulin stimulates the production and secretion of ET-1 as a possible basis for the association of hyperinsulinemia and vascular disease. We demonstrated that insulin significantly stimulates the gene expression and secretion of ET-1 from cultured BAEC, and that insulin increases ET-1 mRNA expressed in BBCEC. Insulin caused a maximal twofold inducement above control ET-1 mRNA expression in a dose-related fashion in BAEC. The increased mRNA resulted from increased transcription, as determined by nuclear run-off studies. Increased ET-1 mRNA was seen after 4 h of incubation with insulin: the peak occurred at 6–8 h and persisted for 24 h. Insulin caused as much as a fourfold stimulation of ET-1 secretion from BAEC in a dose-related fashion, including a twofold increase at a physiological concentration (10⁻⁹ M): The increase began at 1 h of incubation and continued for the entire 24-h incubation period. The insulin-induced increases in both ET-1 mRNA and ET-1 protein secretion were significantly attenuated by genistein, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor. This stimulation probably occurred through the insulin receptor, because IGF-1 had no effect on ET-1 gene expression or secretion from these cells. Actinomycin-D inhibited the stimulation of ET-1 mRNA by insulin, whereas cycloheximide caused a superinducement of insulin's effect. Rats implanted with subcutaneous insulin pellets for 10 days had markedly elevated plasma ET levels, confirming a stimulatory role for insulin in vivo, in both diabetic and normal rodents. This study suggests that circulating hyperinsulinemia might induce the production and secretion of ET-1, a powerful endogenous vasoconstrictor and mitogen for the vascular smooth muscle cell. This interaction could underlie the increased vascular disease characteristic of hyperinsulinemic diabetic states.