Mm. Campos et al., THE ROLE OF B-1 AND B-1 KININ RECEPTORS IN EDEMA FORMATION AFTER LONG-TERM TREATMENT WITH MYCOBACTERIUM-BOVIS BACILLUS-CALMETTE-GUERIN (BCG), British Journal of Pharmacology, 120(3), 1997, pp. 502-508
1 The present study was designed to investigate the influence of long-
term systemic treatment with Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Gue
rin (BCG, 1 dose per animal. containing 6 x 10(4) colony-forming-units
(CFu), 5 to 75 days beforehand) on oedema formation induced by intrad
ermal injection of B-1 and B-2 selective agonists. The interaction bet
ween the B-1 agonist des-Arg(9)-bradykinin and bradykinin was also inv
estigated. 2 Intradermal injection (i.d.) of the B-2 selective agonist
tyrosine(8)-bradykinin (1-10 nmol) in naive (saline pretreated) anima
ls, or in animals that had received BCG (30 days beforehand, caused do
se-related and very similar oedema formation (ED(50); 1.1 and 1.0 nmol
/paw, respectively). I.d. injection of the selective B-1 agonists des-
Arg(9)-bradykinin (100 nmol) or des-Arg(10)-kallidin in naive animals
caused very little paw oedema (0.04 +/- 0.06 and 0.07 +/- 0.02 ml, res
pectively, n = 5). However, i.d. injection of des-Arg(9)-bradykinin (1
0-300 nmol) or des-Arg(10)-kallidin (3-100 nmol) in animals pretreated
with BCG, 30 days previously, resulted in dose-related and marked oed
ema formation, with mean ED(50) values of 20.1 and 5.5 nmol/paw, respe
ctively. 3 Oedema caused by i.d. injection of des-Arg(9)-bradykinin (1
00 nmol/paw) in rats pretreated with BCG was evident 5 days after trea
tment, reaching the maximum 30 days later, remaining stable for up to
45 days. and reduced markedly at 75 days. 4 The i.d. co-injection of t
he selective B-1 antagonists des-Arg(9)[Leu(8)]-bradykinin (200 nmol),
des-Arg(10)[Leu(9)]-bradykinin (30 nmol) and des-Arg(9)-NPC 17731 (30
nmol) significantly (18 +/- 3, 34 +/- 2 and 56 +/- 4%, respectively)
prevented the paw oedema caused by i.d. injection of des-Arg(9)-bradyk
inin (100 nmol) in rats treated with BCG. These effects were selective
, because the i.d. injection of the B-1 selective antagonist des-Arg(1
0)[Leu(9)]-kallidin (30 nmol), at the same dose that consistently anta
gonized des-Arg(9)-bradykinin (100 nmol)-mediated paw oedema, had no s
ignificant effect against tyrosine(8)-bradykinin (3 nmol)-induced oede
ma in animals that had been treated previously with BCG. On the other
hand, the i.d. co-injection of the selective B-2 antagonist. Hoe 140 (
10 nmol) at a dose which markedly inhibited tyrosine(8)-bradykinin (3
nmol)-induced oedema by 55 +/- 4%, did not significantly affect des-Ar
g(9)-bradykinin-induced paw oedema in animals pretreated with BCG. 5 T
reatment of animals with dexamethasone (0.5 mg kg(-1), s.c.) every 24
h, from day 0 to day 30, inhibited significantly (67 +/- 4%) the oedem
a caused by des-Arg(9)-bradykinin (100 nmol), but did not affect the p
aw oedema caused by tyrosine(8)-bradykinin (3 nmol) in animals pretrea
ted with BCG. 6 Indomethacin (2 mg kg(-1), i.p.), administered 1 h bef
ore experiments, significantly inhibited des-Arg(9)-bradykinin (100 nm
ol)-induced oedema formation, and, to a lesser extent, the paw oedema
caused by tyrosine(8)-bradykinin (3 nmol) (44 +/- 4 and 20 +/- 4%, res
pectively). 7 These findings show that the long-term systemic treatmen
t of rats with BCG promoted a time-dependent and consistent paw oedema
formation to B-1 agonists, des-Arg(9)-bradykinin and des-Arg(10)-kall
idin, leaving responses to the B-2 agonist tyrosine(8)-bradykinin unaf
fected. The upregulation of B-1 receptors after BCG treatment was inhi
bited by dexamethasone, suggesting the possible involvement of de novo
protein synthesis. Finally our results also show that in BCG-treated
animals, the B-1 agonist des-Arg(9)-bradykinin interacts in a synergis
tic manner with bradykinin. Therefore, both B-1 and B-2 kinin receptor
s appear to play a relevant role in modulating chronic inflammatory pr
ocesses.