title: Studies on the mechanism of action of the antihypertensive agent cicletanine.
abstract: DOCA-salt rats have been previously shown to respond readily to the antihypertensive agent cicletanine (C). To study the mechanism of action of this drug, DOCA-salt rats were subchronically (14 d) treated with a 30 mg/kg (p.o.) dose of C and, once killed, their thoracic aortas challenged with a concentration (0.1 microM) of the vasocontractile agent noradrenaline (NA). Arteries from rats treated with C responded less to NA than the arteries from rats given placebo for the same time period. In another set of experiments, prior treatment with the inhibitor of prostaglandin synthesis indomethacin (2 x 2.5 mg/kg, s.c.) blunted the acute antihypertensive effect of C (30 mg/kg, p.o.) in this experimental model. These data suggest that C may work through a long-term induced blockade of the sympathetic tone that could be somehow related to a promotion of the formation of the vasodilator prostaglandin prostacyclin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Castro
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Parra
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Fuentes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects*; D003900:Desoxycorticosterone; D004232:Diuretics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006973:Hypertension / Q000139:chemically induced; D008297:Male; D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / Q000187:drug effects*; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000494:pharmacology; D011725:Pyridines; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents; D004232:Diuretics; D011725:Pyridines; D003900:Desoxycorticosterone; C038068:cicletanine; D009638:Norepinephrine