Endothelium-dependent hyperpolarization in resting and depolarized mammary and coronary arteries of guinea-pigs

Involvement of nitric oxide in amiodarone- and dronedarone-induced coronary vasodilation in guinea pig heart

Amiodarone, a powerful antiarrhythmic compound, possesses coronary and peripheral vasodilator properties. The mechanisms responsible for these effects remain incompletely understood. In the present study, the coronary effects of amiodarone and dronedarone, a non-iodinated amiodarone-like compound, were investigated in isolated guinea pig hearts perfused at constant flow with high K+ solution (40 mM). Amiodarone (0.01-10 microM), dronedarone (0.01-1 microM) and verapamil (0.01-10 microM) induced concentration-dependent decreases in coronary perfusion pressure. Amiodarone- and dronedarone-mediated reductions in coronary perfusion pressure were not modified by a cyclooxygenase inhibitor, indomethacin (3 microM). L-Nitro-L-arginine (L-NOARG; 3-100 microM) caused a rightward shift of concentration-response curves to amiodarone and dronedarone in a dose-dependent way; L-arginine, a nitric oxide (NO) precursor, reversed this effect. Furthermore, when guinea pigs were treated with NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME; 20 mg/kg), amiodarone could not reduce coronary perfusion pressure. NO synthase inhibition did not affect the coronary perfusion pressure response to verapamil. 1H-[1,2,4]Oxadiazole (4,3-a) quinoxalin-1-one (ODQ), a specific inhibitor of the guanylyl cyclase, inhibited the effects of amiodarone but not those of verapamil. In the presence of L-NOARG and ODQ, and in hearts from animals treated with L-NAME, a decrease in coronary perfusion pressure was still observed at the highest concentration of dronedarone. These results show that, in guinea pig hearts, the coronary vasodilation induced by amiodarone highly depends on nitric oxide. Dronedarone differs from amiodarone by a remaining relaxant effect, refractory to inhibition of NO synthase pathway, probably due to its Ca+ antagonist properties.

EDHF, NO and a prostanoid: hyperpolarization-dependent and -independent relaxation in guinea-pig arteries

The contribution of endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF), nitric oxide (NO) and a prostanoid (PG) to endothelium-dependent hyperpolarization and relaxation were assessed in coronary and mammary arteries of guinea-pigs by integration of the responses evoked during discrete applications of acetylcholine (ACh). The results of this integration approach were compared with those using traditional peak analysis methods. N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME, 100 microM) and indomethacin (1 microM), alone or in combination, were without effect on peak hyperpolarizations or relaxations while they markedly reduced the integrated responses in both arteries. Integrated responses attributed to NO and PG were larger than those attributed to EDHF in the coronary artery (at 2 microM ACh, hyperpolarization (mV s): NO, 4200+/-91; PG, 5046+/-157; EDHF, 1532+/-94; relaxation (mN s mm(-1)): NO, 2488+/-122; PG, 2234+/-96; EDHF, 802+/-54). Integrated responses attributed to NO, PG and EDHF were similar in the mammary artery (at 2 microM ACh, hyperpolarization: NO, 347+/-69; PG, 217+/-49; EDHF, 310+/-63; relaxation: NO, 462+/-94; PG, 456+/-144; EDHF, 458+/-40). Gilbenclamide (1 microM) all but abolished the hyperpolarization attributable to NO and PG but not EDHF in both arteries allowing assessment of the role of the hyperpolarization in relaxation. Gilbenclamide was without effect on the integrated relaxation due to NO but significantly reduced the relaxation associated with PG in the two arteries. In conclusion, integration of the responses enabled a more complete assessment of the contribution of EDHF, NO and PG to endothelium-dependent responses, which were strikingly different in the two arteries. There is commonality in the role of hyperpolarization in relaxation in both arteries: EDHF-dependent relaxation is strongly dependent on hyperpolarization; hyperpolarization plays an important role in PG relaxation, whereas it has a small facilitatory role in NO-dependent relaxation.