title: Enhanced endothelium-derived relaxing factor activity in pregnant, spontaneously hypertensive rats.
abstract: Pregnancy is normally associated with vasodilation that, in hypertensive animals such as the spontaneously hypertensive rat, causes a profound decrease in blood pressure. To test the possibility that enhanced basal endothelium-derived relaxing factor activity has a role in the vasodilation of pregnancy, we measured the changes in mean arterial pressure and heart rate induced by NG-monomethyl-L-arginine, a specific inhibitor of endothelium-derived relaxing factor synthesis, in conscious nonpregnant and pregnant (postmating day 20 to 21) normotensive Wistar-Kyoto and spontaneously hypertensive rats. NG-monomethyl-L-arginine caused similar dose-dependent increases in mean arterial pressure in nonpregnant and pregnant Wistar-Kyoto rats, but the accompanying decrease in heart rate was significantly greater in nonpregnant rats than in pregnant ones. In the spontaneously hypertensive rats, NG-monomethyl-L-arginine caused significantly greater dose-dependent increases in mean arterial pressure in pregnant compared with nonpregnant rats; there were no differences in the decreases in heart rate. These pressor responses were partially reversed by excess L-arginine but not D-arginine. Indomethacin had no effect on the pressor response to NG-monomethyl-L-arginine or the depressor response to L-arginine after NG-monomethyl-L-arginine. Therefore basal endothelium-derived relaxing factor plays a role in vascular tone and blood pressure regulation in vivo, and pregnancy may be associated with enhanced basal endothelium-derived relaxing factor activity in the hypertensive spontaneously hypertensive rats.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Tennessee, Memphis 38163.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Ahokas
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Mercer
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Sibai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001120:Arginine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects*; D007213:Indomethacin / Q000494:pharmacology; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011270:Pregnancy, Animal / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D011918:Rats, Inbred SHR; D011921:Rats, Inbred WKY; D019323:omega-N-Methylarginine
chemical_list: D019323:omega-N-Methylarginine; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D001120:Arginine; D007213:Indomethacin