ENDOTHELIN-A RECEPTOR ANTAGONIST PREVENTS ACUTE HYPOXIA-INDUCED PULMONARY-HYPERTENSION IN THE RAT

Exposure to hypoxia is associated with increased pulmonary artery pressure and plasma endothelin-1 (ET-1) levels and with selective enhancement in ET-1 peptide and mRNA and endothelin-A (ET(A)) receptor mRNA levels in rat lung. The current study tested the hypothesis that endogenous ET-1 can account for hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension via a paracrine effect on ET(A) receptors in lung. Intravenous infusion of the ET(A) receptor antagonist BQ-123 (D-Trp-D-Asp-Pro-D-Val-Leu) (0.4 mg/mu l at 1 mu l/h) into Sprague-Dawley rats beginning 4 h before and for 90 min during normobaric hypoxia (10% O-2) markedly attenuated the hypoxic response: mean pulmonary artery pressure increased from 17.2 +/- 0.7 to 29.0 +/- 1.2 mmHg in saline control rats but did not increase from baseline in BQ-123-treated rats. BQ-123 did not alter systemic arterial pressure, heart rate, or plasma endothelin-1 levels. These findings suggest that ET-1 synthesized in lung in response to hypoxia acts locally on ET(A) receptors to cause pulmonary hypertension.