Ebselen prevents CS-induced endothelial dysfunction
As chronic CS exposure caused significant lung inflammation as well as heightened lung and vascular oxidative stress, we sought to investigate the effect of antioxidant treatment on vascular endothelial function. Sham + Veh-treated mice showed an ~90% Rmax, while CS + Veh-treated mice showed an ~40% Rmax to ACh (Figure 4A), confirming CS-induced endothelial dysfunction as also demonstrated in Figure 1. CS-exposed mice treated with ebselen were completely protected from the CS-induced endothelial dysfunction evidenced by the maximal relaxation of ~90% to ACh. In addition, ebselen did not affect vascular endothelial function in sham-exposed mice (Figure 4A), suggesting its protective effects are specific to CS exposure. Like the data in Figure 1, smooth muscle relaxant responses to SNP were unaltered irrespective of CS exposure or ebselen treatment (Figure 4B).