Carbon monoxide and Ca2+-activated K+ channels in cerebral arteriolar responses to glutamate and hypoxia in newborn pigs

Large-conductance calcium-activated potassium (K-Ca) channels regulate the physiological functions of many tissues, including cerebrovascular smooth muscle. L-Glutamic acid (glutamate) is the principal excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, and oxygen tension is a dominant local regulator of vascular tone. In vivo, glutamate and hypoxia dilate newborn pig cerebral arterioles, and both dilations are blocked by inhibition of carbon monoxide (CO) production. CO dilates cerebral arterioles by activating K-Ca channels. Therefore, the present study was designed to investigate the effects of glutamate and hypoxia on cerebral CO production and the role of K-Ca channels in the cerebral arteriolar dilations to glutamate and hypoxia. In the presence of iberiotoxin or paxilline that block dilation to the K-Ca channel opener, NS-1619, neither CO nor glutamate dilated pial arterioles. Conversely, neither paxilline nor iberiotoxin inhibited dilation to acute severe or moderate prolonged hypoxia. Both glutamate and hypoxia increased cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) CO concentration. Iberiotoxin that blocked dilation to glutamate did not attenuate the increase in CSF CO. The guanylyl cyclase inhibitor, 1H-(1,2,4) oxadiazolo(4,3-a)-quinoxalin-1-one (ODQ), which blocked dilation to sodium nitroprusside, did not inhibit dilation to hypoxia. These data suggest that dilation of newborn pig pial arterioles to glutamate is mediated by activation of K-Ca channels, consistent with the intermediary signal being CO. Surprisingly, although 1) heme oxygenase (HO) inhibition attenuates dilation to hypoxia, 2) hypoxia increases CSF CO concentration, and 3) K-Ca channel antagonists block dilation to CO, neither K-Ca channel blockers nor ODQ altered dilation to hypoxia, suggesting the contribution of the HO/CO system to hypoxia-induced dilation is not by stimulating vascular smooth muscle K-Ca channels or guanylyl cyclase.