title: L-NG-nitro-arginine and its methyl ester are potent inhibitors of non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic transmission in the rat anococcygeus.
abstract: 1. The effects of L-NG-nitro-arginine (L-NOARG) and some other arginine analogues on non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic (NANC) relaxations of the rat anococcygeus muscle were investigated. 2. L-NOARG (5-200 microM) produced concentration-related inhibition of the NANC response; 100 microM L-NOARG produced 90% inhibition. 3. L-Arginine (5-200 microM) produced a concentration-related reversal of the inhibitory effect of 20 microM L-NOARG; a five fold excess of L-arginine (100 microM) was required to obtain the maximum reversal of 90%. D-Arginine (100 microM) produced no such reversal, but significant reversal was produced by L-citrulline, L-arginine-L-aspartate, L-homoarginine and L-arginine-methyl-ester (all at 100 microM). 4. L-NG-nitro-arginine-methyl-ester (L-NAME; 5-200 microM) also reduced NANC relaxations, with a potency similar to that of L-NOARG; both L-NOARG and L-NAME were some ten times more potent than L-NG-monomethyl-arginine (L-NMMA). Like L-NOARG, the effects of L-NAME (20 microM) were reversed by 100 microM L- but not D-arginine. 5. Neither L-NOARG nor L-NAME (both 20 microM) affected submaximal relaxations induced by 10 microM sodium nitroprusside or 20 microM hydroxylamine. 6. D-NOARG, L-NG-tosyl-arginine and L-N alpha-(t-butyl-oxycarbonyl)-NG-nitro-arginine (all at 100 microM) had no effect on NANC relaxations. 7. Thus, in the rat anococcygeus, L-NOARG and L-NAME are more potent than L-NMMA as prejunctional inhibitors of NANC transmission. The reversibility of the effect of L-NOARG by arginine analogues suggests that the NANC system of the anococcygeus shows similarities to the endogenous nitrate system recently described in the brain.
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Sciences Division, King's College London.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Hobbs
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gibson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001120:Arginine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000187:drug effects*; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male; D009126:Muscle Relaxation / Q000187:drug effects; D009130:Muscle, Smooth / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000294:innervation; D019331:NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester; D019335:Nitroarginine; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D019335:Nitroarginine; D001120:Arginine; D019331:NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester