(Hypertension. 1995;25:739-743.)
© 1995 American Heart Association, Inc.
Articles |
From the Department of Cardiology, Cardiovascular Research, University Hospital/Inselspital, Bern, Switzerland.
Correspondence to Thomas F. Lüscher, Cardiology, Cardiovascular Research, University Hospital/Inselspital, CH-3010 Bern, Switzerland.
| Abstract |
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Key Words: endothelins receptors, endothelin vascular resistance
| Introduction |
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In endothelium-denuded mesenteric arteries of young but not of old rats, ET-1 evokes biphasic concentration-dependent vasoconstriction.17 If ETB receptors contribute to endothelin-induced vasoconstriction, combined ETA/ETB receptor antagonists may be advantageous. On the other hand, combined ETA/ETB receptor antagonists might interfere with the endothelial effects of endothelins. This study was designed to pharmacologically characterize the endothelin receptor subtypes involved in contraction as well as in endothelium-dependent relaxation induced by endothelin. Two endothelin receptor antagonists were used: FR139317, a novel potent and selective nonpeptide ETA receptor antagonist,18 19 20 and bosentan, a nonpeptide combined ETA/ETB receptor antagonist.9 21 All experiments were performed in isolated, perfused mesenteric resistance arteries of Wistar-Kyoto rats.
| Methods |
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Experimental Setup
A segment about 2 mm in length of the second or third
branch of the mesenteric artery of each rat was isolated under a
dissection microscope (intraluminal diameter, 200 to 250 µm). After
the fatty tissue was removed, the artery was transferred to an
arteriograph chamber filled with warmed (37±0.5°C) and oxygenated
(95% O2 and 5% CO2) Krebs' solution
circulating from a 250-mL oxygenated reservoir at a flow rate of 50
mL/min.6 17 The chamber contained two glass microcannulas.
The proximal end of the artery was mounted on an afferent cannula and
secured with a surgical nylon suture, and the distal end of the vessel
was positioned inside an efferent cannula. The artery was then perfused
intraluminally with Krebs' solution containing 1.0% bovine serum
albumin and equilibrated under a constant optimal perfusion pressure of
30 mm Hg for 45 minutes before the experiments. The arteriograph was
placed on the stage of a microscope equipped with a video camera. The
signal derived from the video image of the vessel was processed by a
video dimension analyzer (Living Systems Instrumentation) for
continuous measurement and recording of intraluminal diameter. The
intraluminal application of drugs was done through the afferent cannula
with an infusion pump (Harvard Apparatus) at a rate that was one tenth
the intraluminal perfusion rate.
To remove the endothelium, 0.3 mL of a Krebs' solution containing 0.5% CHAPS was infused intraluminally for 30 to 60 seconds.6 17 The presence or absence of the endothelium was confirmed by acetylcholine (10-5 mol/L) in preparations half-maximally precontracted with norepinephrine (1x10-6 to 3x10-6 mol/L). The integrity of the vascular smooth muscle function was further assessed by a relaxation to sodium nitroprusside (10-6 mol/L).
Protocols
Concentration-response curves to ET-1 (10-16 to
3x10-8 mol/L) were obtained by cumulative extraluminal
application of the peptide on endothelium-denuded
arteries. Control experiments were performed without any other
pharmacological agents. To inhibit the ETA receptors, some
arteries were preincubated with the ETA receptor antagonist
FR139317 (10-7, 10-6, and
10-5 mol/L) 30 minutes before application of ET-1. In
another set of experiments, both ETA and ETB
receptors were blocked by the addition of the nonselective endothelin
receptor antagonist bosentan (10-7,
10-6, and 10-5 mol/L) 30 minutes
before ET-1 application. To confirm the existence of ETB
receptors on the arteries, extraluminal concentration-response curves
were constructed for the ETB receptor agonists ET-3
(10-16 to 10-7 mol/L)22 and
sarafotoxin S6c (10-11 to 3x10-8
mol/L)23 in the presence of FR139317 (10-5
mol/L). To determine whether the small contractions of
concentration-response curves observed during prolonged ETB
receptor stimulation were due to downregulation of the receptor, single
concentrations of ET-3 (10-9 mol/L) and sarafotoxin S6c
(3x10-8 mol/L) were applied extraluminally. Additionally,
a single concentration of ET-3 was administered in the presence of
either FR139317 (10-5 mol/L) or bosentan
(10-5 mol/L) to confirm the nature of the receptors
involved. Finally, ET-3 (10-12 to 10-9 mol/L)
was infused intraluminally, in the absence or the presence of the
endothelin receptor antagonists FR139317 (10-5 mol/L) or
bosentan (10-5 mol/L), in
endothelium-intact arteries half-maximally
precontracted with norepinephrine (1x10-6 to
3x10-6 mol/L) to study the relaxant effect of the
endothelial ETB receptor stimulation.
Drugs
The following drugs were used: acetylcholine chloride, CHAPS,
(-)-norepinephrine bitartrate, sodium nitroprusside (all from Sigma
Chemical Co), ET-1, ET-3 (both from Calbiochem-Novabiochem AG),
bosentan (F. HoffmannLa Roche Ltd), FR139317 (Fujisawa Pharmaceutical
Co Ltd), and sarafotoxin S6c (Bachem Feinchemikalien AG). All drugs
were dissolved in distilled water and diluted with Krebs' solution
except for ET-1, ET-3, and sarafotoxin S6c, which were dissolved in
distilled water containing 0.1% bovine serum albumin and diluted with
Krebs' solution containing 0.05% bovine serum albumin, and FR139317,
which was dissolved with 20% ethanol and diluted with distilled water
before the experiments. The final concentration of ethanol in the
chamber was less than 0.02%, which by itself did not cause any
significant effect (data not shown).
Calculations and Statistical Analysis
The contractions were expressed as percentage of the
decrease in intraluminal vascular diameter. The diameter at the resting
period was taken as 100%. The relaxations to intraluminal ET-3 were
expressed as percentage of the increase in intraluminal vascular
diameter obtained during the contraction evoked by norepinephrine. Data
are expressed as mean±SEM. The concentrations of the agonists causing
half-maximal response were calculated for the second phase of
ET-1induced contraction by use of a nonlinear regression
analysis. These data are expressed as the negative logarithm of the
molar concentration (pD2 value). To evaluate the response
to endothelin occurring at low concentrations (ie, in the first phase
of the concentration-response curve), the C11 value (the
percentage of contraction obtained at 10-11 mol/L ET-1)
was calculated. An ANOVA followed by Bonferroni's correction for
multiple comparisons24 was used to compare the results of
each group of experiments. A probability value less than .05 was
considered significant.
| Results |
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Responses to Extraluminal ET-3 and Sarafotoxin S6c
The cumulative extraluminal application of both ET-3
(10-16 to 10-7 mol/L) and sarafotoxin S6c
(10-11 to 3x10-8 mol/L) evoked small
contractions (maximal responses, 16±5% at 10-9 mol/L
ET-3 and 7±2% at 10-8 mol/L sarafotoxin S6c) in vessels
pretreated with FR139317 (10-5 mol/L for 30 minutes) (Fig 3). Under the same conditions of ETA
receptor blockade, the maximal contraction of the first phase of
ET-1induced biphasic contraction was 15±6% at 10-9
mol/L ET-1 (Fig 3).
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In contrast, single-bolus extraluminal application of ET-3 (10-9 mol/L) or sarafotoxin S6c (3x10-8 mol/L) produced much more potent contractions (39±5% and 38±9%, respectively) than the cumulatively induced maximal contractions (Fig 4a). This response produced by a single concentration of ET-3 (10-9 mol/L) was significantly blocked by bosentan (10-5 mol/L) but not FR139317 (10-5 mol/L) (Fig 4b).
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Responses to Intraluminal ET-3
The cumulative intraluminal application of ET-3
(10-12 to 10-9 mol/L) induced
concentration-dependent relaxations (56±8% at 10-9 mol/L
ET-3) in endothelium-intact arteries half-maximally
precontracted with norepinephrine (1x10-6 to
3x10-6 mol/L). Bosentan (10-5 mol/L)
significantly inhibited ET-3induced relaxation, but FR139317
(105 mol/L) had no significant effect on this response
(10±2% and 52±12% at 10-9 mol/L ET-3, respectively)
(Fig 5).
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| Discussion |
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Previous experiments with young rats have shown a biphasic contraction to ET-1 in mesenteric resistance artery without endothelium,6 suggesting that two distinct endothelin receptors are involved. Indeed, in endothelium-denuded mesenteric resistance arteries, both FR139317 and bosentan inhibited the low-affinity and high-efficacy contraction (second phase) to ET-1, and bosentan but not FR139317 prevented the high-affinity and low-efficacy contraction (first phase) to ET-1. These results indicate an involvement of ETA receptors in the second phase and of ETB receptors in the first phase. Indeed, the fact that cumulative administration or a single concentration of ET-322 or sarafotoxin S6c,23 both ETB receptor agonists, evoked contractions after blockade of ETA receptor with FR139317 confirms the existence of ETB receptors in this tissue, as has been reported in other vascular beds and species.8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 The existence of two subtypes of endothelin receptors on vascular smooth muscle cells therefore seems to be a common phenomenon. However, the relative contribution of vascular ETB receptors to endothelin-induced contraction may vary depending on the vascular bed or species.9 Aging also seems to influence ETB receptormediated contraction in rats, as suggested by the disappearance of the high-affinity contraction to ET-1 in older rats.17 Moreover, the relative importance of ETB receptormediated contraction in different vascular beds, or even in the same vascular bed of different animals, may depend on local regulation of ETB receptor expression. In this respect, our results demonstrate that ETB receptors can undergo downregulation. Indeed, prolonged exposure to ET-3 or sarafotoxin S6c, such as during a cumulative concentration-response curve, resulted in markedly smaller contraction than with a single-bolus application of the agonists. In addition, the contraction obtained with these agonists was not sustained, and the vessels regained initial vascular diameter prior to the addition of the drugs after 40 to 60 minutes (data not shown).13 25 Both ETA and ETB receptors have been reported to be downregulated.26 27 However, the present study suggests marked ETB receptor downregulation, but the ETA receptormediated contraction induced by ET-1 was not downregulated in the same way. Indeed, our experiments showed that maximal contractions could be obtained despite prolonged exposure to ET-1. Similarly, indirect evidence from in vivo experiments also indicates that downregulation of ETB receptors mediating vasodilation is more obvious than that of the vasoconstrictor ETA receptors.28 Our results are therefore consistent with the suggestion that ETB receptors are downregulated much more easily and more rapidly than ETA receptors.27
Because ETB receptors occur in endothelium and smooth muscle cells, the existence of two ETB subtypes has been suggested.8 11 29 Other results, however, suggest that the same ETB receptor subtype mediates both vasoconstriction and vasodilation. Indeed, the ETB receptor agonist ET-3 induces relaxation followed by contraction in porcine ophthalmic microcirculation.30 In the present study, the ETB receptor agonists ET-3 and sarafotoxin S6c produced relaxations in endothelium-intact precontracted arteries and contractions in endothelium-denuded arteries. However, the ET-3induced but not the sarafotoxin S6cinduced contraction was similar to the first phase of ET-1induced contraction after preincubation with FR139317. Hence, the two selective ETB receptor agonists may have different affinities to the same ETB receptor, or subtypes of ETB receptors (ETB1 and ETB2) or even an ETC receptor31 32 33 may exist on vascular smooth muscle and endothelium. More likely, however, sarafotoxin S6c causes more profound tachyphylaxis than ET-3, because the contractions to a single-bolus application of either ET-3 or sarafotoxin S6c were identical.
The contribution of different endothelin receptors to the response to endothelins will have important consequences for the use of endothelin receptor antagonists. Circulating endothelin levels are increased in certain forms of hypertension,1 coronary spasm,34 myocardial infarction,35 heart failure,36 and other vascular diseases.37 Because both ETA and ETB receptors are expressed and contribute to contractions, combined ETA/ETB receptor antagonists may be required to interfere with the effects of endothelin. However, combined ETA/ETB receptor antagonists inhibit endothelium-dependent relaxations as well as contractions to endothelin. On the contrary, because the selective ETA receptor antagonist leaves endothelium-dependent relaxation to ET-3 unaffected, this effect may be therapeutically beneficial. Therefore, if endothelin antagonists are to be used therapeutically, it will be important to know more about the relative importance of ETB receptormediated contraction and relaxation.
In conclusion, both ETA and ETB receptors are present on the smooth muscle of rat mesenteric resistance arteries and mediate vasoconstriction. ETB receptors, which are more easily downregulated by prolonged activation than ETA receptors, mediate responses to endothelin with high affinity but low efficacy, and responses involving ETA receptors occur at higher concentrations of endothelin and are more efficacious. The development of new pharmacological tools, such as FR139317 and bosentan, is helpful to the better understanding of the physiological role of the endothelin family of peptides as well as to the determination of their contribution to hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases.
| Acknowledgments |
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| Footnotes |
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