Inhibition of Ornithine Decarboxylase Restores Hypoxic Pulmonary Vasoconstriction in Endotoxemic Mice

Endotoxemia impairs hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction which leads to systemic hypoxemia. This derogation is attributable to increased activity of nitric oxide synthase 2 and arginase metabolism. Gene expression analysis has shown increased expression of ornithine decarboxylase in lungs of endotoxemic mice, a downstream enzyme of arginase metabolism. The aim of this study was to investigate whether inhibition of ornithine decarboxylase increases hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction in lungs of endotoxemic mice. Mice received lipopolysaccharides or saline intraperitoneal, and hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction was measured using an isolated perfused mouse lung model. Additional mice with and without endotoxemia were pretreated with the ornithine decarboxylase-inhibitor difluoromethylornithine before examination of hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction. Hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction was defined as the difference of pulmonary arterial pressure between normoxic and hypoxic ventilation. In addition, lung tissue was analyzed using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, Western blot and immunohistochemistry. Lipopolysaccharides caused an up-regulation of ornithine decarboxylase mRNA level (2.73 ± 0.19-fold increase,  < 0.05) as well as ornithine decarboxylase protein level (4.05 ± 0.37-fold increase,  < 0.05). Endotoxemia attenuated hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction when compared with untreated control mice (26.3 ± 9.7% vs. 67.0 ± 17.5%). Difluoromethylornithine (20, 100, 500 mg kg body weight intraperitoneal) restored hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction in lungs of endotoxemic mice in a dose-dependent way (25.8 ± 9.9%, 57.3 ± 17.2%, 62.3 ± 12.4%) and decreased hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction in control mice (53.6 ± 13.6%, 40.0 ± 14.9%, 35.9 ± 12.4%). These results show that endotoxemia induces ornithine decarboxylase expression and suggest that ornithine decarboxylase contributes to the endotoxemia-induced impairment of hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction. Inhibition of ornithine decarboxylase might be a target in the therapy of diseases with inflammation impaired hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction, like the sepsis-associated acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).