Role of endothelium/nitric oxide in atypical β-adrenoceptor-mediated relaxation in rat isolated aorta

The role of endothelium in the modulation of classical and atypical beta-adrenoceptor-mediated vasorelaxation was investigated in ring preparations of rat isolated thoracic aorta. Rings were pre-constricted with a sub-maximal concentration of noradrenaline (1 mu M) and relaxant responses to cumulative concentrations of beta-adrenoceptor agonists obtained. Endothelium removal or pretreatment with N-G-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME, 100 mu M) or 1H-[1,2,4] oxadiazolol[4,3,-a] quinoxalin-1-one (ODQ, 10 mu M) significantly reduced the relaxant effects of isoprenaline, but had less effect on relaxant responses to the atypical beta-adrenoceptor agonist, (+/-)-4-(3-t-butylamino-2-hydroxypropoxy)-benzimidazol-2-one hydrochloride (CGP 12177A). Sodium nitroprusside (3 nM) shifted the isoprenaline concentration-response curve to the left and restored the attenuated responses in the presence of L-NAME back to control levels. Sodium nitroprusside had little effect on the CGP 12177A concentration-response curve. The results show that the endothelium/nitric oxide (NO) pathway modulates beta-adrenoceptor-mediated vasorelaxation in rat aorta and that classical beta-adrenoceptors an modulated to a greater extent than atypical beta-adrenoceptors. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.