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Diabetes mellitus is associated with reactive oxygen and nitrogen species accumulation. Behavioral stress increases nitric oxide production, which may trigger a massive impact on vascular cells and accelerate cardiovascular complications under oxidative stress conditions such as Diabetes. For this study, type-1 Diabetes mellitus was induced in Wistar rats by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin. After 28 days, cumulative concentration-response curves for angiotensin II were obtained in endothelium-intact carotid rings from diabetic rats that underwent to acute restraint stress for 3h. The contractile response evoked by angiotensin II was increased in carotid arteries from diabetic rats. Acute restraint stress did not alter angiotensin II-induced contraction in carotid arteries from normoglycaemic rats. However acute stress combined with Diabetes increased angiotensin II-induced contraction in carotid rings. Western blot experiments and the inhibition of nitric oxide synthases in functional assays showed that neuronal, endothelial and inducible nitric oxide synthase isoforms contribute to the increased formation of peroxynitrite and contractile hyperreactivity to angiotensin II in carotid rings from stressed diabetic rats. In summary, these findings suggest that the increased superoxide anion generation in carotid arteries from diabetic rats associated to the increased local nitric oxide synthases expression and activity induced by acute restrain stress were responsible for exacerbating the local formation of peroxynitrite and the contraction induced by angiotensin II., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Hyperglycemia increases the generation of reactive oxygen species and affects systems that regulate the vascular tone including renin-angiotensin system. Stress could exacerbate intracellular oxidative stress during Diabetes upon the activation of angiotensin AT1/NADPH oxidase pathway, which contributes to the development of diabetic cardiovascular complications. For this study, type-I Diabetes was induced in Wistar rats by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin. 28 days after streptozotocin injection, the animals underwent to acute restraint stress for 3 h. Cumulative concentration-response curves for angiotensin II were obtained in carotid rings pre-treated or not with Nox or cyclooxygenase inhibitors. Nox1 or Nox4 expression and activity were assessed by Western blotting and lucigenin chemiluminescence, respectively. The role of Nox1 and Nox4 on reactive oxygen species generation was evaluated by flow cytometry and Amplex Red assays. Cyclooxygenases expression was assessed by real-time polymerase chain reaction. The contractile response evoked by angiotensin II was increased in diabetic rat carotid. Acute restraint stress increased this response in this vessel by mechanisms mediated by Nox4, whose local expression and activity in generating hydrogen peroxide are increased. The contractile hyperreactivity to angiotensin II in stressed diabetic rat carotid is also mediated by metabolites derived from cyclooxygenase-2, whose local expression is increased. Taken together, our findings suggest that acute restraint stress exacerbates the contractile hyperreactivity to angiotensin II in diabetic rat carotid by enhancing Nox4-driven generation of hydrogen peroxide, which evokes contractile tone by cyclooxygenases-dependent mechanisms. Finally, these findings highlight the harmful role played by acute stress in modulating diabetic vascular complications., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)