title: Cardiovascular and respiratory effects of endothelin in the ventrolateral medulla of the normotensive rat.
abstract: We studied the relevance of the ventrolateral medulla for the cardiovascular and respiratory effects of endothelin-1 in urethane-anesthetized rats. Microinjection of endothelin-1 into the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) evoked pressor and bradycardic effects followed by sustained decreases in blood pressure, bradycardia, and respiratory depression. These effects were inhibited by endothelin-A receptor antagonists (BQ-123 and BQ-610) but not by endothelin-B antagonists. In the caudal ventrolateral medulla (CVLM) endothelin-1 decreased blood pressure, renal sympathetic nerve activity, respiratory frequency, and phrenic nerve activity, whereas heart rate increased. Pretreatment with BQ-123 in the CVLM increased respiratory frequency by 15 +/- 6 breaths per minute and prevented the effects of intra-CVLM administration of endothelin-1. In separate experiments, the intracisternal administration of endothelin-1 (20 pmol) to rats pretreated with saline in both RVLM and CVLM resulted in a hypotensive and bradycardic phase that was followed by hypertension (50 +/- 15 mm Hg), bradycardia, and 100% mortality. In a separate group, pretreatment with BQ-123 in the RVLM and CVLM completely inhibited the hypotensive phase and reduced by 83% the subsequent rise in blood pressure evoked by endothelin-1. Cardiorespiratory arrest was prevented in all the rats in this group. Selective endothelin receptor blockade in the RVLM attenuated the hypertensive period of intracisternal administration of endothelin-1 and prevented mortality by 33%, whereas in the CVLM the endothelin receptor antagonist inhibited the initial hypotension and reduced mortality by 25%. Our results support the concept that in the ventral medulla, endothelin-1 can modulate cardiovascular and respiratory function.
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn., USA.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mosqueda-Garcia
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yates
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: O'Leary
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Inagami
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D016232:Endothelins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects; D006439:Hemodynamics / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D007668:Kidney / Q000294:innervation; D008526:Medulla Oblongata / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000494:pharmacology; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic / Q000494:pharmacology; D010880:Piperidines / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012143:Respiratory Physiological Phenomena; D012137:Respiratory System / Q000187:drug effects*; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D016232:Endothelins; D009842:Oligopeptides; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic; D010880:Piperidines; C086539:BQ 788; C072247:cyclo(Trp-Asp-Pro-Val-Leu)