title: Relaxation of vascular smooth muscle by cicletanine in aged wistar aorta under stress conditions: importance of nitric oxide.
abstract: The vascular mechanism of action of cicletanine, an antihypertensive agent, was studied on isolated Wistar rat aortas (24-months-old) in presence and in absence of endothelium in two different stress conditions, normoxic and hypoxic, in presence of norepinephrine (NE). Under normoxic conditions, in presence of endothelium, cicletanine (10(-9)-10(-5)M) induced a concentration-dependent relaxation, whereas in absence of endothelium, cicletanine (10(-9)-10(-5)M) was ineffective although it relaxed the smooth muscle at higher concentrations (10(-4)M). At pharmacologic concentrations (below or equal 10(-5)M), relaxation induced by cicletanine, in presence of endothelium, was prevented by N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine (L-NNA) (P <.005) and relaxation induced by the highest concentration (10(-4)M) was reversed by BaCl2 (P <.005). Under hypoxic conditions, in presence of NE and endothelium, the aorta displayed an increased developed tension that was significantly (P <.05) attenuated by cicletanine (10(-5)M) and insensitive to indomethacine (10(-7)M). When the two compounds were added together, the relaxation induced by cicletanine was significantly improved (P <.005). These results indicated that cicletanine, under stress conditions, relaxes vascular smooth muscle through an endothelium-dependent action mediated by the nitric oxide (NO) synthase pathway. We proposed that the observed vascular effects could be associated with the counter-regulation mechanisms linked to the antihypertensive action of cicletanine.
authors.affiliation: D'epartement de Recherche M'edicale, Hôpital Marie Lannelongue, Le Plessis-Robinson, France.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chamiot-Clerc
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Choukri
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Legrand
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Droy-Lefaix
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Safar
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Renaud
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007213:Indomethacin / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D019331:NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester / Q000494:pharmacology; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000502:physiology*; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D011725:Pyridines / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014664:Vasodilation / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D011725:Pyridines; D009569:Nitric Oxide; C038068:cicletanine; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D019331:NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester; D007213:Indomethacin