title: Foetal erythrocytes exhibit an increased ability to scavenge for nitric oxide.
abstract: The presence of adult human whole blood inhibited in vitro relaxations of rat aortic rings by the nitric oxide (NO) donor S-nitroso-N-acetyl-DL-penicillamine (SNAP). Incubation with foetal blood containing the same concentration of haemoglobin produced a shift to the right of the relaxation curve. SNAP-induced vasorelaxations were more inhibited by dialysed solutions of haemoglobin than by the presence of erythrocytes in the organ bath, but there were no differences between the effect of adult or foetal haemoglobins. The presence of plasma from adult or foetal blood did not modify the effects of SNAP. Relaxations induced by endogenous, endothelium-derived, NO were more inhibited by foetal than by adult erythrocytes. These results suggest that foetal erythrocytes have a higher NO scavenging effect than those present in adult blood.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Calatayud
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Beltrán
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brines
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moncada
authors.forename: J V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Esplugues
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001011:Aorta; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D005312:Fetal Blood; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000378:metabolism*; D010396:Penicillamine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D014661:Vasoconstriction / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: C110881:S-nitro-N-acetylpenicillamine; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D010396:Penicillamine