Diabetes mellitus is a major risk factor for atherosclerosis. In atherosclerotic lesions, arterial smooth muscle cells (SMC) change from a contractile to a synthetic phenotype characterized by active proliferation. A similar phenotype modulation occurs in vitro when isolated arterial SMC are grown in culture and is characterized by both changes in cell morphology and a typical switch in actin isoform expression. In this study, we examined the influence of streptozotocin(STZ)-induced diabetes on the differentiation state and the phenotype modulation of cultured rat aortic SMC. We used transmission electron microscopy to study the fine structure of STZ-diabetic and non-diabetic SMC in primary culture and immunological methods for the determination of the proportions of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SM) and nonmuscle β-actin (β-NM) isoforms. Cultured STZ-diabetic SMC exhibited a large cytoplasmic volume, rich in rough endoplasmic reticulum, when compared with cultured non-diabetic SMC. α-SM, organized in stress fibers, was less homogeneously and abundantly distributed and by contrast, β-NM was more abundant in STZ-diabetic than in non-diabetic SMC. Cytofluorimetric analyses demonstrated that the α-SM content was reduced in freshly STZ-diabetic SMC. Furthermore, during logarithmic growth of cultured SMC, the decrease of α-SM was more important in STZ-diabetic than in non-diabetic SMC. Immunoblotting of actin isoforms confirmed that expression of β-NM was more important in STZ-diabetic than in non-diabetic SMC even in freshly isolated cells. The results suggest that SMC from STZ-diabetic rats express a more dedifferentiated state and undergo a more rapid phenotypic modulation in primary cultures than SMC from non-diabetic rats. Therefore, diabetes could induce changes in the phenotype of arterial SMC which might be associated with the onset or progression of the atherogenic process.

We examined the influence of streptozotocin-induced diabetes on the growth of cultured rat aortic smooth muscle cells in the presence of interleukin-1β. Interleukin-1β induced a dose-dependent biphasic effect on proliferation of diabetic and control smooth muscle cells, consistent with the data on [3H]thymidine incorporation and cell counts. However, the major effect of interleukin-1β was to stimulate growth of diabetic cells and inhibit growth of control cells. Furthermore, interleukin-1β induced a dose-dependent increase in nitric oxide (NO) release and in intracellular cyclic GMP accumulation: nitrite release was similar in both smooth muscle cell models but cyclic GMP accumulation was greater in diabetic cells than in controls. These results suggest that the inhibitory loop involving NO is not effective enough to completely counterbalance the stimulatory effects of interleukin-1β on diabetic cells. Therefore, experimental diabetes may modify the interleukin-1β-regulated smooth muscle cell growth.

1. There is evidence to suggest that adenosine may regulate arterial smooth muscle cell (SMC) growth and proliferation, which is a key event in atherogenesis. This regulation may be mediated via adenylate cyclase. As diabetes is a known risk factor for atherosclerosis, we investigated the growth of aortic SMC from diabetic rats in primary culture and their sensitivity to adenosine and to adenylate cyclase activity. 2. Diabetes was induced with streptozotocin (STZ, 66 mg kg-1, i.p.) Aortic SMC primary cultures were prepared from STZ-diabetic and age-matched rats 5 weeks after the STZ injection. 3. SMC from STZ-diabetic rats grew faster and reached greater densities at confluence than those from non-diabetic animals. 4. Adenosine inhibited growth in both control and diabetic SMC. However, cells from STZ-diabetic rats were apparently more sensitive to adenosine. 5. Direct activation of adenylate cyclase by forskolin induced a dose-dependent growth inhibition, similar in both groups of cells. 6. Cholera toxin, an activator of stimulatory GTP-binding protein (Gs), induced a similar growth inhibitory response in non-diabetic and diabetic SMC. Pertussis toxin (PTX), an inactivator of inhibitory GTP-binding protein (Gi), did not itself affect SMC growth. However, PTX increased dose-dependently the growth inhibition induced by adenosine in SMC from non-diabetic rats but not in SMC from diabetic rats. 7. These findings suggest a functional abnormality in Gi activity in SMC from diabetic rats, that would explain the increased sensitivity to the nucleoside. This impaired inhibitory pathway may reflect changes in the growth regulation of SMC in experimental diabetic states.

We examined the influence of experimental diabetes on the proliferation of cultured vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) in presence of a nitric oxide (NO)-generating agent, sodium nitroprusside (SNP), and 8-bromo-cGMP. VSMC cultures were prepared from aortas of control and streptozotocin-diabetic rats. SNP induced a time- and dose-dependent inhibition of control and diabetic VSMC proliferation, consistent with the data on [3H]thymidine incorporation, cell counts, and index of culture mass. However, the responses to SNP were significantly enhanced in VSMCs from diabetic rats. SNP induced an increased dose-dependent accumulation of intracellular cGMP in diabetic VSMCs. In contrast, growth-inhibitory responses to 8-bromo-cGMP were not significantly different between the two VSMC models. Moreover, basal cGMP content in VSMCs was lower in diabetic rats than in controls, a result that can explain the enhanced proliferation observed in VSMCs from diabetic rats. These results suggest an enhanced antiproliferative effect of NO in VSMCs from diabetic rats through increased cGMP production. Therefore, experimental diabetes may impair and up-regulate soluble guanylate cyclase activity in VSMCs.