title: Mechanisms involved in the vasodilator effect of the flavanol floranol in rat small mesenteric arteries.
abstract: The mechanism underlying the vasodilator effect of the flavonoid floranol was studied in rat small mesenteric arteries. Floranol produced a concentration-dependent vasorelaxant effect in endothelium-containing and endothelium-denuded vessels pre-contracted with phenylephrine, which was more potent in endothelium-intact vessels. In endothelium-intact mesenteric arteries, l-NAME but not indomethacin produced a shift to the right in the vasorelaxant effect of floranol. In endothelium-denuded vessels TEA and BaCl2 did not change the floranol-induced vasorelaxation. When endothelium-denuded vessels were pre-contracted with 50 mM KCl, floranol induced a vasorelaxant effect comparable with phenylephrine pre-contracted vessels. We conclude that floranol is a new vasodilator compound in rat small mesenteric arteries. Part of this effect is dependent on endothelial nitric oxide (NO) and part is dependent on the inhibition of voltage-dependent calcium channels in the smooth muscle cells.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Fisiologia e Biofísica, ICB, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
authors.forename: Bruno A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Rezende
authors.forename: Steyner F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Cortes
authors.forename: Virgínia S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Lemos
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000187:drug effects; D007887:Fabaceae; D044950:Flavanones / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008638:Mesenteric Arteries / Q000187:drug effects*; D008517:Phytotherapy; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018517:Plant Roots; D051381:Rats; D014665:Vasodilator Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D044950:Flavanones; D005419:Flavonoids; D010936:Plant Extracts; D014665:Vasodilator Agents; C488030:floranol