Mechanisms of Action of Endothelin on Isolated Feline Cerebral Arteries: In vitro Pharmacology and Electrophysiology

Abstract

Vascular endothelium has been found to produce a strong and potent vasoconstrictor peptide, endothelin. In this study, we have examined basic mechanisms underlying the contractile response of cerebral vessels to endothelin using in vitro pharmacology and electrophysiology. It was found that endothelin produced strong concentration-dependent contractions of circular segments of the feline middle cerebral artery. The response was slow in onset and long lasting. The vessels showed a remarkably strong tachyphylactic reaction upon repeated exposure to endothelin. The contractile effect of endothelin was not modified by the α-adrenoceptor antagonist phen-tolamine (10−6 M) or the 5-hydroxytryptamine antagonist ketanserin (10−6 M). Mechanical removal of the endothelium decreased potassium contractions while the maximum response to endothelin was only slightly reduced. There was no change in sensitivity of the cerebral artery to endothelin. The addition of a calcium antagonist (10−6 M diltiazem or 3 × 10−8 M nimodipine) or removal of extracellular calcium from the buffer solution did not change the sensitivity of the artery to endothelin but the maximum response to endothelin was reduced by between 40 and 60% by these procedures. The resting membrane potential of the cat middle cerebral artery was –62.8 ± 3.5 mV. There was no significant depolarization in conjunction with cumulative administration of endothelin in concentrations below 1 × 10−9 M. However, bursts of excitatory junction potentials were occasionally seen in response to high concentrations of endothelin (5 × 10−9 M). The findings suggest that the contractile response to endothelin of cat cerebral arteries involved influx of extracellular calcium through voltage-sensitive calcium channels and is in part mediated via a voltage-insensitive mechanism. Further work is necessary to define the intracellular actions of endothelin.