Jose Marques Lopes

Women become susceptible to hypertension as they transition to menopause (i.e., perimenopause); however, the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Animal studies using an accelerated ovarian failure (AOF) model of peri-menopause (peri-AOF) demonstrate that peri-AOF hypertension is associated with increased postsynaptic NMDA receptor plasticity in the...

Hypertension is a risk factor for neurodegenerative disorders involving inflammation and inflammatory cytokine-producing brain cells (microglia and astrocytes) in the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Here we investigated the effect of slow-pressor angiotensin II (AngII) on gliosis in the hippocampus and mPFC of young adult (2-mo-old...

There are significant neurogenic and inflammatory influences on blood pressure, yet the role played by each of these processes in the development of hypertension is unclear. Tumor necrosis factor a (TNFa) has emerged as a critical modulator of blood pressure and neural plasticity; however, the mechanism by which TNFa signaling contributes to the de...

Molecular chaperones and co-chaperones, which are part of the protein quality control machinery, have been shown to regulate distinct aspects of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) pathology in multiple ways. Notably, the co-chaperone STI1, which presents increased levels in AD, can protect mammalian neurons from amyloid-β toxicity in vitro and reduced STI1 l...

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a chronic sleep disorder characterized by repetitive reduction or cessation of airflow during sleep, is widely prevalent and is associated with adverse neurocognitive sequelae including increased risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In humans, OSA is more common in elderly males. OSA is characterized by sleep fragmentati...

Sex and ovarian function contribute to hypertension susceptibility, however, the mechanisms are not well understood. Prior studies show that estrogens and neurogenic factors, including hypothalamic glutamatergic NMDA receptor plasticity, play significant roles in rodent hypertension. Here, we investigated the role of sex and ovarian failure on AMPA...

The accumulation of misfolded proteins in the human brain is one of the critical features of many neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). Assembles of beta-amyloid (Aβ) peptide—either soluble (oligomers) or insoluble (plaques) and of tau protein, which form neurofibrillary tangles, are the major hallmarks of AD. Chaperones a...

Hypertension in males and aging female rodents is associated with glutamate-dependent plasticity in the hypothalamus, but existing models have failed to capture distinct transitional menopausal phases that could have significant impact on the synaptic plasticity and emergent hypertension. In rodents, accelerated ovarian failure (AOF) induced by sys...

Sex differences in the incidence of hypertension occur as early as adolescence and persist through reproductive senescence both in humans and experimental animals. These sex differences have profound implications for the treatment of not only hypertension but also risk-related cardiovascular diseases. Historically, inadequate tools for identifying...

At younger ages, women have a lower risk for hypertension than men, but this sexual dimorphism declines with the onset of menopause. These differences are paralleled in rodents following "slow-pressor" angiotensin II (AngII) administration: young male and aged female mice, but not young females, develop hypertension. There is also an established se...

There are profound, yet incompletely understood, sex differences in the neurogenic regulation of blood pressure. Both corticotrophin signaling and glutamate receptor plasticity, which differ between males and females, are known to play important roles in the neural regulation of blood pressure. However, the relationship between hypertension and glu...

Renin-angiotensin system over-activity, up-regulation of post-synaptic NMDA receptor function, and increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) are hallmarks of angiotensin II (AngII)-induced hypertension, which is far more common in young males than in young females. We hypothesize that the s...

The incidence of hypertension increases after menopause. Similar to humans, "slow-pressor" doses of angiotensin II (AngII) increase blood pressure in young males, but not in young female mice. However, AngII increases blood pressure in aged female mice, paralleling reproductive hormonal changes. These changes could influence receptor trafficking in...

Adaptive changes in glutamatergic signaling within the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) may play a role in the neurohumoral dysfunction underlying the hypertension induced by "slow pressor" angiotensin II (ANG II) infusion. We hypothesized that these adaptive changes alter production of NADPH oxidase (Nox)-derived reactive oxygen species...

NADPH oxidase-generated reactive oxygen species (ROS) are highly implicated in the development of angiotensin II (AngII)-dependent hypertension mediated in part through the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN). This region contains vasopressin and non-vasopressin neurons that are responsive to cardiovascular dysregulation, but it is not known...

In the central nervous system, angiotensin II (AngII) binds to angiotensin type 1 receptors (AT(1)Rs) to affect autonomic and endocrine functions as well as learning and memory. However, understanding the function of cells containing AT(1)Rs has been restricted by limited availability of specific antisera, difficulties discriminating AT(1)R-immunor...

N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDAR) have a role in cardiovascular control at the nucleus tractus solitarii (NTS), eliciting increases or decreases in blood pressure (BP), depending on the area injected with the agonists. In spite of the association between cardiovascular control and pain modulation, the effects of manipulating NMDAR in pain resp...

Unlabelled: Hypertension-associated hypoalgesia is widely recognized in acute pain conditions. In chronic pain states, however, the relationship between blood pressure and pain sensitivity is still ill-defined, with different authors reporting negative, positive, or even no relationship at all. This work addresses this issue, using complete Freund...

The caudal ventrolateral medulla (CVLM) is a key component of the supraspinal pain modulatory system. Pain modulation from the CVLM is partially relayed by spinally projecting noradrenergic neurons of the pontine A(5) cell group, which leave collateral fibres at the CVLM. The injection of angiotensin II (Ang II) into the CVLM was recently shown to...

Nociceptive transmission from the spinal cord is controlled by supraspinal pain modulating systems that include the caudal ventrolateral medulla (CVLM). The neuropeptide angiotensin II (Ang II) has multiple effects in the CNS and at the medulla oblongata. Here we evaluated the expression of angiotensin type 1 (AT(1)) receptors in spinally-projectin...

Treatment of Wistar rats for 7 days with 1,3-dipropyl-8-sulfophenylxanthine (DPSPX), an antagonist of adenosine receptors, induces long-lasting hypertension associated with marked changes in vascular structure and reactivity and renin-angiotensin system activation. This study aimed at evaluating the role of oxidative stress in the development of DP...