INTERACTIONS BETWEEN ISOPRENALINE, SODIUM-NITROPRUSSIDE, AND ISOZYME-SELECTIVE PHOSPHODIESTERASE INHIBITORS ON ADP-INDUCED AGGREGATION AND CYCLIC-NUCLEOTIDE LEVELS IN HUMAN PLATELETS

The interactions between isoprenaline, sodium nitroprusside, and the isozyme-selective phosphodiesterase inhibitors OPC 3911 ("cAMP specific") and zaprinast ("cGMP specific") on platelet aggregation induced by adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and on levels of cAMP and cGMP were studied. Isoprenaline at 10(-6) M diminished aggregation by 28%, and this effect was enhanced by 10(-7)-10(-6) M OPC 3911. Neither 10(-6) M isoprenaline nor 10(-7) M OPC 3911 elevated cAMP, but in combination they caused a significant rise in cAMP (27% above the basal level), accompanying the synergistic functional inhibition, without affecting cGMP levels. Sodium nitroprusside at 10(-5) M diminished aggregation by 39%, elevated cGMP levels (81-110%), but also caused a statistically significant increase in cAMP (21-32%), and enhanced the effectS of 10(-6) M isoprenaline on cAMP levels. Zaprinast at 10(-5) M caused a modest inhibition of aggregation by 20%, and a small increase in cGMP (20%), and it clearly enhanced the effects of 10(-5) M sodium nitroprusside on both cGMP and cAMP levels, but not on aggregation. The cAMP-increasing effect of sodium nitroprusside might be a consequence of a cGMP-mediated inhibition of the "low-K(m) cGMP-inhibited phosphodiesterase" that is also inhibited by OPC 3911. The effects of all of the drugs on ADP-induced aggregation seem to depend more on their effect on cAMP levels than on the levels of cGMP.