Biomedical subjects

E Bassenge

Publications and source records attributed to E Bassenge.

187 records · Page 11Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

Alpha-adrenoceptor blockade by phentolamine causes beta-adrenergic vasodilation by increased catecholamine release due to presynaptic alpha-blockade.

We tested whether the alpha 1- and alpha 2-blocking agent phentolamine can be used to assess the contribution of alpha-adrenergic constriction in circulatory control. In 15 conscious dogs at rest, phentolamine (2 mg/kg i.v.) caused hypotension (-17 mm Hg mean arterial pressure), vasodilation (-29% total peripheral resistance), tachycardia, and an increase in cardiac output, oxygen consumption, and plasma catecholamines. Following beta-adrenoceptor blockade (2 mg/kg i.v. nadolol), phentolamine still produced hypotension and increased plasma catecholamine levels, but neither vasodilation nor augmented oxygen consumption. During beta-blockade, phentolamine caused a 28-fold decrease in the vasoconstrictor response to norepinephrine infusions. An equihypotensive dosage of the alpha 1-adrenoceptor blocking agent prazosin (1.2 mg/kg i.v.) did not elevate heart rate, cardiac output, plasma catecholamines, or oxygen consumption. The prazosin-induced vasodilation was not attenuated by prior beta-blockade, in contrast to the phentolamine-induced vasodilation. It is concluded that phentolamine increased catecholamine release by presynaptic alpha 2-blockade, thereby suppressing the autoinhibition of transmitter release. This excess of catecholamines causes a rise of oxygen consumption and vasodilation by beta-adrenergic stimulation. Under beta-blockade, this excess competitively counteracts the postsynaptic vascular alpha-blockade. The combination of pre- and postsynaptic effects invalidates the use of phentolamine in the assessment of alpha-adrenoceptor-mediated vasoconstrictor tone.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Beta-adrenergic activation of the renin-angiotensin system following alpha 2-, alpha 1-, or nonselective alpha-blockade in conscious dogs: no relation to the changes in blood pressure.

We analyzed the role of the renin-angiotensin system following alpha 2-, alpha 1-, or nonselective alpha-blockade in an intact organism in which both postsynaptic alpha-adrenoceptor types contribute to adrenergic vasoconstriction. In conscious dogs, alpha 2-blockade (0.3 mg/kg rauwolscine, n = 10) increased mean arterial pressure by 40 mm Hg, while hypotension by 8 mm Hg occurred following nonselective alpha-blockade (1.5 mg/kg phentolamine, n = 9) and by 20 mm Hg following alpha 1-blockade (1.2 mg/kg prazosin, n = 10). Plasma angiotensin II (pg/ml) rose by 103 +/- 28 (SEM), 143 +/- 48, and 58 +/- 15 following alpha 2-, nonselective alpha-, or alpha 1-blockade, respectively. While alpha 2- or nonselective alpha-blockade induced tachycardia and substantial elevations of plasma catecholamines, alpha 1-blockade did not. Beta-Blockade (2 mg/kg nadolol) attenuated the elevations of angiotensin following alpha 2- or nonselective alpha-blockade by 100 and 88%, respectively, without affecting the alpha 1-blockade-induced elevation, which is mainly mediated by the hypotension. Pretreatment with 3 mg/kg captopril reduced the pressure increase induced by alpha 2-blockade from 40 to 13 +/- 10 mm Hg and aggravated the decline in blood pressure induced by nonselective alpha-blockade from 8 to greater than 50 mm Hg. In anesthetized, spinalized dogs, both types of alpha-blockade competitively antagonized the pressor effect of the alpha 2-agonist azepexole by the same degree. It is concluded that, in the intact animal, the central and peripheral presynaptic augmentation of sympathoexcitation induced by alpha 2- or nonselective alpha-blockade leads to a strong beta-adrenergic activation of the renin-angiotensin system, independent of the concomitant changes in blood pressure. The constrictive action of the activation contributes substantially to the compensation of the vascular adrenoceptor blockade induced by nonselective or alpha 2-selective blockade in the intact organism.

Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Sympathetic control of myocardial oxygen balance in dogs mediated by activation of coronary vascular alpha 2-adrenoceptors.

Recent observations on sympathetic constriction of the poststenotic coronary bed without dilatory reserve indicate the involvement of postsynaptic alpha 2-adrenoceptors, which are commonly regarded as noninnervated, hormonal receptors. Therefore, we characterized the vascular alpha-adrenoceptor activated during the competition between sympathetic constriction and metabolic dilation of the nonstenosed coronary bed by analyzing myocardial oxygen balance. In 39 anesthetized, spinalized open-chest dogs with bilateral cervical vagotomy, the left decentralized stellate ganglion was stimulated while mean aortic pressure was kept constant. Stimulation at 1 and 10 Hz lowered coronary venous oxygen saturation by 2.5 +/- 0.3 (SEM) and by 11.1 +/- 0.8 saturation %, respectively, in experiments under beta-blockade (4 mg/kg nadolol, n = 21). In experiments without beta-blockade (n = 18), the saturation response was similar. Under beta-blockade, alpha 2-blockade by rauwolscine (0.03 and 0.3 mg/kg) attenuated the decline in saturation induced by 10 Hz stimulation to 0.56 +/- 0.08 (p less than 0.01) of the control response and to 0.30 +/- 0.06 (p less than 0.001), respectively, whereas alpha 1-blockade by prazosin (0.012 and 0.12 mg/kg) modified this response only to 0.94 +/- 0.06 (NS) and to 0.75 +/- 0.08 (0.1 greater than p greater than 0.05). Without beta-blockade, similar attenuations to 0.36 +/- 0.07 (p less than 0.001) by 0.3 mg/kg rauwolscine and to 0.80 +/- 0.09 (NS) by 0.12 mg/kg prazosin were observed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adrenergic beta-Antagonists↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Effects of native and oxidized low density lipoproteins on formation and inactivation of endothelium-derived relaxing factor.

The influence of native (N-) and oxidized (Ox-) low density lipoproteins (LDLs) on endothelium-dependent vasomotion is still controversial. We investigated the short-term effects of N-LDL and Ox-LDL on the formation of endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF) in native and cultured endothelial cells and on its inactivation after release from the cells. N-LDL was isolated from fresh human plasma via sequential ultracentrifugation and oxidized by incubation with Cu2+. EDRF released from cultured endothelial cells was inactivated by both N-LDL and Ox-LDL (1 mg/ml) as detected in a bioassay system. N-LDL reduced the EDRF-mediated vasodilations of the detector segments by 38.5 +/- 5.3%, and Ox-LDL, by 55.5 +/- 4.6%. The effects of lipoproteins on EDRF formation were studied in cultured endothelial cells preincubated with either N-LDL or Ox-LDL (1 mg/ml for 1 hour) and stimulated for EDRF release with bradykinin after washout of the lipoproteins. EDRF was assessed by measuring its stimulatory effect on the activity of a purified, soluble guanylate cyclase. Both N-LDL and Ox-LDL did not reduce the bradykinin-induced EDRF formation. Consistent with this finding, acetylcholine-induced, EDRF-mediated dilations of intact rabbit femoral artery segments were not impaired by luminal exposure to N-LDL or Ox-LDL (1 mg/ml for 1 hour). However, these relaxations were significantly reduced by preincubation of aortic ring preparations with the same concentrations of the same charges of N-LDL and Ox-LDL. In conclusion, neither N-LDL nor Ox-LDL acutely impairs the formation of EDRF but does inactivate EDRF after its release from endothelial cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Acetylcholine↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerosis change vascular reactivity in rabbits by different mechanisms.

Vasomotor reactivity was assessed in vitro in arterial segments obtained from rabbits with different stages of atherosclerosis. Rabbits were fed a standard chow diet (controls) or a cholesterol-enriched diet to induce hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerosis. A third group received the hydroxymethylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitor, lovastatin, simultaneously with the cholesterol diet. Contractile responses of thoracic aortas to norepinephrine, serotonin, and potassium-rich solution, as well as endothelium-dependent dilations to acetylcholine, were compared after 2 and 4 months on the respective diet. Additionally, plasma cholesterol levels and the amount of plaques covering the intimal surface (as a percentage of the intimal surface) were determined; transmission electron microscopy of atherosclerotic arteries was also performed. After 2 months, the only difference was an enhancement of contractile responses to serotonin in the cholesterol-fed versus the control group. After 4 months on the diet, contractile responses to serotonin were further enhanced, and norepinephrine- and potassium-induced vasoconstrictions were now also significantly enhanced in cholesterol-fed animals versus controls. Endothelium-dependent vasodilations were simultaneously reduced in cholesterol-fed animals. These alterations were partly prevented in cholesterol-fed and lovastatin-treated animals. Suppression of nitric oxide synthesis in control aortas by NG-nitro-L-arginine did not reveal any significant increases in contractile responses. Contractile responses to serotonin were enhanced after 2 months on the diet but before the appearance of intimal plaques, whereas attenuation of endothelium-dependent dilations, as well as the further enhancement of contractile responses to serotonin and to other agonists, were closely correlated with the degree of intimal plaques after 4 months on the diet.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animal Feed↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Sympathetic vasoconstriction sensitive to alpha 2-adrenergic receptor blockade. No evidence for preferential innervation of alpha 1-adrenergic receptors in the canine femoral bed.

In the canine femoral bed, we studied the involvement of vascular alpha 2-adrenergic receptors in vasoconstriction by stimulating the sympathetic nerve during different degrees of activation of metabolic counterregulation (constant pressure and constant flow perfusion). In chloralose-anesthetized, despinalized dogs under beta-blockade (2 mg/kg nadolol) and under a constant femoral perfusion pressure, cumulative doses of rauwolscine (0.03, 0.3, and 3.0 mg/kg i.v., n = 8) or of prazosin (0.012, 0.12, and 1.2 mg/kg i.v., n = 8) caused dose-dependent shifts to the right of the dose-response curve of intraarterial norepinephrine (NE) infusions. These cumulative doses also caused attenuations of the vasoconstriction initiated by lumbar sympathetic stimulation (0.1, 0.3, 1.0, and 3.0 Hz). Sham treatment (n = 8) had no such results. In experiments with constant flow perfusion (n = 6 for each antagonist), rauwolscine shifted the NE dose-response curve significantly more compared to the experiments with constant pressure perfusion, while prazosin was similarly effective under both conditions. Under constant flow perfusion, both antagonists dose-dependently attenuated the vasoconstrictions caused by sympathetic stimulation. While prazosin and sham treatment did not modify the overflow of NE from the femoral bed during stimulation, this overflow was augmented by rauwolscine during stimulation at 3 Hz, which indicated presynaptic modulation of NE release. Under both experimental conditions, no significant difference could be observed in the attenuation of low-frequency sympathetic vasoconstriction by the two antagonists, when dosages were compared on the basis of their action against infused NE. It is concluded that both a rauwolscine-sensitive component and a prazosin-sensitive component are involved in the competition between sympathetic vasoconstriction and metabolic dilation. The vascular alpha-adrenergic receptors activated by these two components have a similar postsynaptic localization relative to the nerve endings.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Flow-dependent, endothelium-mediated dilation of epicardial coronary arteries in conscious dogs: effects of cyclooxygenase inhibition.

Endothelial damage or removal abolishes the dilation of epicardial coronary arteries induced by increments in flow through these arteries in vitro. Therefore, we tested whether or not the release of a cyclooxygenase product from endothelial cells in vivo is the mechanism of this flow-dependent dilation. In eight conscious dogs, instrumented to register the external diameter of two epicardial branches--anterior descending and circumflex--of the left coronary artery, increments in coronary flow increased and reductions in coronary flow decreased the diameter of the left circumflex epicardial artery by 182 +/- 11 micron/100% change in flow. When mean coronary flow in one epicardial branch was kept constant by a distal, flow-limiting stenosis during the application of flow-augmenting stimuli (temporal coronary occlusion or 80-400 micrograms/kg adenosine i.v.), no dilation of this artery was observed. Cyclooxygenase inhibition (suppressing the bradykinin-induced elevation of plasma 6-keto-PGF1 alpha) by indomethacin (5 mg/kg) or by diclofenac (10 mg/kg) increased smooth muscle tone in both epicardial arteries, but did not modify the flow-diameter relation (181 +/- 10 and 179 +/- 9 microns/100% change in flow, respectively). It is concluded that a tonic, instantaneous influence of coronary flow on the smooth muscle tone of the epicardial coronary arteries exists in vivo. It is unlikely that prostacyclin or another prostanoid is a mediator of this endothelium-mediated influence of flow on smooth muscle tone.

6-Ketoprostaglandin F1 alpha↗