Original Article TJ0711, a novel vasodilatory β-blocker, protects SHR rats against hypertension induced renal injury

Previous studies suggested that β-blockers with adjunctive α 1 -blocking activities warrant renoprotective function other than the therapeutic effect on hypertension. The current report is designed to dissect the role of TJ0711, a novel β-blocker with a 1:1 ratio for the β1/α 1 blocking activities, in renoprotection in SHR rats. It was noted that TJ0711 possesses similar potency for control of blood pressure as that of Carvedilol. However, TJ0711 is much more potent in terms of protecting SHR rats against hypertension induced renal injury. Specifically, SHR rats treated with 20mg/kg/day of TJ0711 manifested significantly lower levels for urine albumin and total protein. In line with these result, TJ0711 treated rats displayed much less severe pathological changes in the kidneys. Mechanistic studies revealed that TJ0711 improves kidney perfusion during the course of hypertensive insult by enhancing eNOS expression through suppressing inflammatory cytokine secretion. TJ0711 also attenuates Vasohibin-1 expression to prevent HIF-1α from signal-induced degradation, and by which it promotes HO-1 expression to protect SHR rats against oxidative stress induced by hypertension in the kidneys. Together, our data suggest that TJ0711 possesses higher potency for renoprotection while manifesting the similar effect on hypertension therapy as Carvedilol.