Anne Dorrance, PhD

she/her/hers
Patenge Endowed Professor, Chair, and IPSTP Program Director
Pharmacology & Toxicology

Bio

The brain is exquisitely sensitive to changes in blood flow because even small reductions in flow can cause neuronal injury. In the most extreme situation, when blood flow completely stops, a stroke occurs. Milder reductions in blood flow can result in the development of cognitive impairments that lead to dementia development. In the Dorrance lab, we study how cerebral arteries regulate blood flow and how conditions like obesity and hypertension impair this process. By doing this, we may identify treatments to slow or prevent the development of dementia and improve the outcome of a stroke.

Colleges

• College of Human Medicine
• College of Veterinary Medicine
• College of Osteopathic Medicine

Programs

• Integrated Pharmacological Sciences Training Program Co-Director
• Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmacology and Toxicology

Funding

• Vascular cognitive impairment in hypertension; identification of an age appropriate model., National Institute on Aging (2021-08-15—2023-05-31)
• Integrative Pharmacological Sciences Training Program (IPSTP), National Institute of General Medical Sciences (2021-07-01—2026-06-30)
• Cerebral parenchymal arteriole dysfunction and cognitive decline in a life-long high fat feeding model, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (2017-07-15—2021-06-30)
• The Effect of Aldosterone on Cerebral Blood Vessels, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (2004-05-01—2010-04-30)
• Aldosterone in Acute Ischemic Stroke, American Heart Association (2013-07-01—2015-06-30)
• The Effects of Mineralocorticoid Receptor Activation on Cerebral Vessels and Stroke, American Heart Association (2008-01-01—2012-12-31)

Works

• Chronic cerebral hypoperfusion in male rats results in sustained HPA activation and hyperinsulinemia. American Journal of Physiology - Endocrinology and Metabolism (2022)
• Endothelial Cells and the Cerebral Circulation. Comprehensive Physiology (2022)
• Mineralocorticoid receptor antagonism improves transient receptor potential vanilloid 4-dependent dilation of cerebral parenchymal arterioles and cognition in a genetic model of hypertension. Journal of Hypertension (2022)
• Soluble epoxide hydrolase inhibition improves cognitive function and parenchymal artery dilation in a hypertensive model of chronic cerebral hypoperfusion. Microcirculation (2021)
• Activation of ventral tegmental area neurotensin Receptor-1 neurons promotes weight loss. Neuropharmacology (2021)
• Clopidogrel treatment inhibits P2Y₂-Mediated constriction in the rabbit middle cerebral artery. European Journal of Pharmacology (2021)
• Interleukin-6 drives key pathologic outcomes in experimental acetaminophen-induced liver failure. bioRxiv (2021)
• Regulation of ion channels in the microcirculation by mineralocorticoid receptor activation. Current Topics in Membranes (2020)
• Transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 channels are important regulators of parenchymal arteriole dilation and cognitive function. Microcirculation (2019)
• Locus Coeruleus Degeneration Induces Forebrain Vascular Pathology in a Transgenic Rat Model of Alzheimer's Disease. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease (2019)
• Rs10230207 genotype confers changes in HDAC9 and TWIST1, but not FERD3L in lymphoblasts from patients with intracranial aneurysm. Neurogenetics (2019)
• Mineralocorticoid receptor antagonism prevents obesity‐induced cerebral artery remodeling and reduces white matter injury in rats. Microcirculation (2018)
• Mineralocorticoid receptor antagonism prevents obesity-induced cerebral artery remodeling and reduces white matter injury in rats. Microcirculation (2018)
• Carotid artery stenosis in hypertensive rats impairs dilatory pathways in parenchymal arterioles. American Journal of Physiology - Heart and Circulatory Physiology (2018)
• Mineralocorticoid receptor antagonism improves parenchymal arteriole dilation via a TRPV4-dependent mechanism and prevents cognitive dysfunction in hypertension. American Journal of Physiology - Heart and Circulatory Physiology (2018)
• Transient Hypertension after Spinal Cord Injury Leads to Cerebrovascular Endothelial Dysfunction and Fibrosis. Journal of Neurotrauma (2018)
• Endothelial mineralocorticoid receptor mediates parenchymal arteriole and posterior cerebral artery remodeling during angiotensin II-induced hypertension. Hypertension (2017)
• Aging is associated with changes to the biomechanical properties of the posterior cerebral artery and parenchymal arterioles. American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology (2016)
• Bilateral common carotid artery stenosis in normotensive rats impairs endothelium-dependent dilation of parenchymal arterioles. American Journal of Physiology - Heart and Circulatory Physiology (2016)
• DOCA-salt hypertension impairs artery function in rat middle cerebral artery and parenchymal arterioles. Microcirculation (2016)
• Rigid and remodelled: Cerebrovascular structure and function after experimental high-thoracic spinal cord transection. Journal of Physiology (2016)
• The effects of hypertension on cerebral artery structure and function, and cerebral blood flow. Hypertension and the Brain as an End-Organ Target (2016)
• Effects of stroke on the autonomic nervous system. Comprehensive Physiology (2015)
• Regulation of myogenic tone and structure of parenchymal arterioles by hypertension and the mineralocorticoid receptor. American Journal of Physiology - Heart and Circulatory Physiology (2015)
• Interfering with mineralocorticoid receptor activation: The past, present, and future. F1000Prime Reports (2014)
• Temporary mineralocorticoid receptor antagonism during the development of hypertension improves cerebral artery dilation. Experimental Biology and Medicine (2014)
• The effects of obesity on the cerebral vasculature. Current Vascular Pharmacology (2014)
• Tumor necrosis factor-α inhibition attenuates middle cerebral artery remodeling but increases cerebral ischemic damage in hypertensive rats. American Journal of Physiology - Heart and Circulatory Physiology (2014)
• Chemerin connects fat to arterial contraction. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology (2013)
• Improvement in middle cerebral artery structure and endothelial function in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats after macrophage depletion. Microcirculation (2013)
• Mentoring 101: training for the future. The Physiologist (2013)
• Safety and efficacy evaluation of carnosine, an endogenous neuroprotective agent for ischemic stroke. Stroke (2013)
• The effects of hypertension on the cerebral circulation. American Journal of Physiology - Heart and Circulatory Physiology (2013)
• Angiotensin II type 2 receptor agonists as therapies for ischemic stroke. Hypertension (2012)
• Direct regulation of blood pressure by smooth muscle cell mineralocorticoid receptors. Nature Medicine (2012)
• STIM1/Orai1 contributes to sex differences in vascular responses to calcium in spontaneously hypertensive rats. Clinical Science (2012)
• The development of hypertension and hyperaldosteronism in a rodent model of life-long obesity. Endocrinology (2012)
• Doxycycline, a matrix metalloprotease inhibitor, reduces vascular remodeling and damage after cerebral ischemia in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats. American Journal of Physiology - Heart and Circulatory Physiology (2011)
• Effects of spironolactone on cerebral vessel structure in rats with sustained hypertension. American Journal of Hypertension (2011)
• Indoleamine 2,3-diooxygenase in periaortic fat: Mechanisms of inhibition of contraction. American Journal of Physiology - Heart and Circulatory Physiology (2011)
• Effect of high soy diet on the cerebrovasculature and endothelial nitric oxide synthase in the ovariectomized rat. Vascular Pharmacology (2010)
• Tempol, a superoxide dismutase mimetic, prevents cerebral vessel remodeling in hypertensive rats. Microvascular Research (2010)
• 11 β-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type II inhibition causes cerebrovascular remodeling and increases infarct size after cerebral ischemia. Endocrinology (2009)
• Are macrophages the foot soldiers in the war waged by aldosterone against the heart?. Hypertension (2009)
• Diet-induced obesity causes cerebral vessel remodeling and increases the damage caused by ischemic stroke. Microvascular Research (2009)
• Erectile function in two-kidney, one-clip hypertensive rats is maintained by a potential increase in nitric oxide production. Journal of Sexual Medicine (2009)
• Glycemic control prevents microvascular remodeling and increased tone in Type 2 diabetes: Link to endothelin-1. American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology (2009)
• Increased activation of stromal interaction molecule-1/Orai-1 in aorta from hypertensive rats: a novel insight into vascular dysfunction. Hypertension (2009)
• Upregulation of intermediate calcium-activated potassium channels counterbalance the impaired endothelium-dependent vasodilation in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats. Translational Research (2009)
• Dietary potassium supplementation improves vascular structure and ameliorates the damage caused by cerebral ischemia in normotensive rats. Nutrition and Metabolism (2008)
• Is the mineralocorticoid receptor a potential target for stroke prevention?. Clinical Science (2008)
• A high-potassium diet reduces infarct size and improves vascular structure in hypertensive rats. American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology (2007)
• Intact female stroke-prone hypertensive rats lack responsiveness to mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists. American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology (2007)
• Interleukin 1-beta (IL-1β) enhances contractile responses in endothelium-denuded aorta from hypertensive, but not normotensive, rats. Vascular Pharmacology (2007)
• Spironolactone improves structure and increases tone in the cerebral vasculature of male spontaneously hypertensive stroke-prone rats. Microvascular Research (2007)
• Arachidonic acid induces augmented vasoconstriction via cyclooxygenase 1 in the aorta from rats fed a high-fat diet. Prostaglandins Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids (2006)
• Mineralocorticoid receptor activation causes cerebral vessel remodeling and exacerbates the damage caused by cerebral ischemia. Hypertension (2006)
• Obesity-induced hypertension develops in young rats independently of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system. Experimental Biology and Medicine (2006)
• Regulation of gene expression in the mammalian eye and its relevance to eye disease. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (2006)
• Aldosterone: Good guy or bad guy in cerebrovascular disease?. Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism (2005)
• An epoxide hydrolase inhibitor, 12-(3-adamantan-1-yl-ureido)dodecanoic acid (AUDA), reduces ischemic cerebral infarct size in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats. Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology (2005)
• Gender differences of renal CYP-derived eicosanoid synthesis in rats fed a high-fat diet. American Journal of Hypertension (2005)
• Type 2 diabetes causes remodeling of cerebrovasculature via differential regulation of matrix metalloproteinases and collagen synthesis: Role of endothelin-1. Diabetes (2005)
• Erratum: Neuroprotection by tempol in a model of iron-induced oxidative stress in acute ischemic stroke (American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology (February 2004) 55 (R283-R288)). American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology (2004)
• Glucocorticoids Decrease GTP Cyclohydrolase and Tetrahydrobiopterin-dependent Vasorelaxation through Glucocorticoid Receptors. Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology (2004)
• Increased vascular sensitivity and connexin43 expression after sympathetic denervation. Cardiovascular Research (2004)
• Increaseed expression of mRNA for regulator of G protein signaling domain-containing Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factors in aorta from stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats. American Journal of Hypertension (2004)
• Neuroprotection by tempol in a model of iron-induced oxidative stress in acute ischemic stroke. American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology (2004)
• Phenylalanine improves dilation and blood pressure in GTP cyclohydrolase inhibition-induced hypertensive rats. Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology (2004)
• Sepiapterin Decreases Vasorelaxation in Nitric Oxide Synthase Inhibition-Induced Hypertension. Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology (2004)
• Downregulation of renal CYP-derived eicosanoid synthesis in rats with diet-induced hypertension. Hypertension (2003)
• GTP cyclohydrolase 1 downregulation contributes to glucocorticoid hypertension in rats. Hypertension (2003)
• GTP cyclohydrolase 1 inhibition attenuates vasodilation and increases blood pressure in rats. American Journal of Physiology - Heart and Circulatory Physiology (2003)
• Captopril treatment reverses erectile dysfunction in male stroke prone spontaneously hypertensive rats. International Journal of Impotence Research (2002)
• Arterial epidermal growth factor receptor expression in deoxycorticosterone acetate-salt hypertension. Hypertension (2001)
• Decreased penile erection in doca-salt and stroke prone-spontaneously hypertensive rats. International Journal of Impotence Research (2001)
• Glucocorticoids inhibit tetrahydrobiopterin-dependent endothelial function. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine (2001)
• Increased membrane sphingomyelin and arachidonic acid in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats. American Journal of Hypertension (2001)
• Mineralocorticoids upregulate arterial contraction to epidermal growth factor. American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology (2001)
• NADH/NADPH oxidase and enhanced superoxide production in the mineralocorticoid hypertensive rat. Hypertension (2001)
• Spironolactone reduces cerebral infarct size and EGF-receptor mRNA in stroke-prone rats. American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology (2001)
• Inhibition of nitric oxide synthesis increases erythrocyte membrane fluidity and unsaturated fatty acid content. American Journal of Hypertension (2000)
• Novel signaling pathways contributing to vascular changes in hypertension. Journal of Biomedical Science (2000)
• Identification of a common low density lipoprotein receptor mutation (C163Y) in the west of Scotland. Journal of Medical Genetics (1998)
• The role of thyroidal type-I iodothyronine deiodinase in tri-iodothyronine production by human and sheep thyrocytes in primary culture. Journal of Endocrinology (1993)

Employment

• Chairperson , Michigan State University (2022-08-01)