Tomio Okamura

Possible role of nitric oxide in transmitting information from vasodilator nerve to cerebroarterial muscle

Treatment with L-NG-monomethyl arginine (L-NMMA), an inhibitor of nitric oxide (NO) synthesis from L-arginine, suppressed the relaxant response of dog cerebral artery strips to transmural electrical stimulation and nicotine, as did oxyhemoglobin. The inhibition by L-NMMA was reversed or prevented by L-, but not D-, arginine. It is concluded that NO or an NO-related compound may play a crucial role in transmitting information from excited vasodilator nerves to cerebroarterial smooth muscle.

Neural mechanism of hypertension by nitric oxide synthase inhibitor in dogs.

This study aimed to determine the mechanism of hypertension associated with nitric oxide synthase inhibition. Intravenous injections of NG-nitro-L-arginine, a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, produced a sustained increase in systemic blood pressure and a decrease in heart rate in anesthetized dogs, whereas NG-nitro-D-arginine had no effect. L-Arginine reversed the pressor response. NG-Nitro-L-arginine-induced hypertension was markedly attenuated or abolished by treatment with hexamethonium; this inhibition was still observed when the blood pressure fall caused by the ganglionic blocking agent was compensated by continuous infusion of angiotensin II. In dogs treated with phentolamine in a dose sufficient to lower blood pressure to the level similar to that elicited by hexamethonium and to suppress the pressor response to norepinephrine, the hypertensive effect of NG-nitro-L-arginine was not attenuated. We conclude that hypertension caused by the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor is associated with an elimination of nitroxidergic neural function rather than an impairment of the basal release of nitric oxide from the endothelium.

Mechanism of neurally induced monkey mesenteric artery relaxation and contraction.

Physiological importance in vasodilator innervation alleviating noradrenergic neurogenic vasoconstriction has not been clarified. Isolated monkey mesenteric artery strips denuded of the endothelium responded to nerve stimulation by electrical pulses or nicotine with a contraction, which was potentiated by Ng-nitro-L-arginine, a nitric oxide synthesis inhibitor, but not by the D-enantiomer. The potentiation was abolished by L-arginine. NG-Nitro-L-arginine did not potentiate the response to exogenous norepinephrine nor did it increase the release of [3H]norepinephrine from adrenergic nerves electrically stimulated. The contraction was reversed by treatment with phentolamine and guanethidine to a relaxation, which was abolished by NG-nitro-L-arginine. The inhibition was reversed by L- but not D-arginine. The relaxant response was not influenced by atropine, timolol, or indomethacin. These findings strongly suggest the importance of reciprocal nitric oxide-related (nitroxidergic) vasodilator and noradrenergic vasoconstrictor innervation in the regulation of monkey arterial tone.

Nitric oxide synthase-immunoreactive nerve fibers in dog cerebral and peripheral arteries

Nitric oxide synthase (NOS)-immunoreactive fibers innervating the dog arterial wall were histochemically determined by the use of NOS antiserum. NOS-immunoreactive fibers were consistently found in every arterial wall examined. In a whole-mount preparation, NOS-positive fibers were detectable in the small pial artery having a diameter of about 100 microns as well as the proximal middle cerebral artery. Further detailed analyses in thin cryostat sections indicated that in middle cerebral, basilar, temporal, mesenteric and femoral arteries, fine NOS-positive fibers were detected in outer zones of the media in addition to many thicker fibers in the adventitia. However, in the coronary artery, many thick fibers were situated in the adventitia, and fine NOS-positive fibers were not found in the media. Injection of ethanol to the pterygopalatine ganglion markedly decreased or abolished the NOS immunoreactivity in nerve cells and fibers and abolished the innervation of NOS-positive fibers in the wall of middle cerebral artery of the ipsilateral side. Together with findings in our previous publications concerning the functional role of nitroxidergic nerve in the control of arterial tone, we conclude that perivascular nerves containing NOS are crucial in eliciting the neurally induced, NO-mediated arterial relaxation.

Impairment by damage of the pterygopalatine ganglion of nitroxidergic vasodilator nerve function in canine cerebral and retinal arteries.

Histochemical study revealed that transcutaneous injection of ethanol into the vicinity of the pterygopalatine ganglion greatly decreased the positive staining for NADPH diaphorase activity after 1 week in the ipsilateral ganglion of a dog and abolished the staining of perivascular nerves in the middle and posterior cerebral arteries. Transmural electrical stimulation or nicotine produced a relaxation in middle and posterior cerebral arteries isolated from the side with the nontreated ganglion (control side), whereas the relaxation was abolished or reversed to a contraction in the arteries from the side with the ethanol-treated ganglion. Nitric oxide-induced relaxations did not differ in the arteries from both sides. The response to nerve stimulation of the control arteries was suppressed by treatment with NG-nitro-L-arginine (L-NA), an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase, and the inhibition was reversed by L-arginine. Nicotine produced a contraction followed by a relaxation in central retinal arterial strips obtained from the control side; the relaxation was abolished and the contraction was potentiated in the arteries from the treated side. The nicotine-induced relaxation was abolished by L-NA, and the contraction was suppressed by phentolamine. On the other hand, the nicotine-induced relaxation in superficial temporal arteries, susceptible to L-NA, was not attenuated by treatment with ethanol. The findings obtained so far support our hypothesis that nitric oxide released from the vasodilator nerve acts as a transmitter to produce arterial smooth muscle relaxation and suggest that the nerve fibers to the cerebral and retinal arteries arise from the pterygopalatine ganglion.

Heterogeneity in mechanisms of bradykinin action in canine isolated blood vessels.

The relaxation induced by bradykinin in helical strips of coronary arteries contracted with prostaglandin (PG) F2 alpha was abolished by removal of the endothelium and was markedly suppressed by treatment with methylene blue or AA861, a lipoxygenase inhibitor. Indomethacin did not alter the response. Renal arterial relaxation by bradykinin was partially reduced by removal of the endothelium. Indomethacin moderately attenuated the response in the strips with endothelium and additional treatment with methylene blue or AA861 suppressed the response further. Tranylcypromine or diphloretin phosphate, an antagonist of PGI2, attenuated the peptide-induced relaxation. In mesenteric veins, the relaxation induced by bradykinin was slightly reduced by removal of the endothelium; indomethacin reversed the relaxation to a contraction in the strips with or without endothelium. Des-Arg9-[Leu8]bradykinin, a bradykinin B1 antagonist, did not alter the relaxation due to bradykinin in coronary arteries but reduced the response of mesenteric veins. It appears that bradykinin-induced relaxation is associated exclusively with EDRF in dog coronary arteries, with both PGI2 and EDRF in the renal arteries, and only with PGI2 liberated from endothelial and subendothelial tissues in the mesenteric veins. The release of PGI2 and EDRF may be mediated by activation of B1 and B2 receptor subtypes, respectively.

Inhibitory effects of L-NG-nitro-arginine on the synthesis of EDRF and the cerebroarterial response to vasodilator nerve stimulation.

Treatment with L-NG-nitro-arginine (L-NA) inhibited the brady-kinin-induced relaxation, mediated via EDRF, in dog coronary artery strips partially contracted with prostaglandin F2 alpha; the inhibition was prevented by L-, but not D-, arginine. Relaxation caused by nitroglycerin was not altered by L-NA. The release of EDRF, as assayed using dog coronary artery strips without endothelium, from perfused femoral artery segments with endothelium in response to acetylcholine and substance P was significantly reduced by treatment of the femoral artery with L-NA. The inhibitory effect was reversed by L-arginine. Relaxant responses of dog cerebral artery strips with and without endothelium to electrical stimulation of non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic nerves were suppressed by L-NA, whereas relaxation of coronary arteries with and without endothelium by the stimulation of adrenergic nerves was not influenced. The L-NA-induced inhibition was reversed by L-arginine. It is speculated that L-NA inhibits the synthesis of EDRF, as does L-NG-monomethyl arginine, and NO-like substance(s) produced plays an important role in transferring information from vasodilator nerves to smooth muscle in cerebral arteries.

Inhibition of nitroxidergic nerve function by neurogenic acetylcholine in monkey cerebral arteries

1. Modification by endogenous or exogenous acetylcholine and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) of vasodilatation mediated by nitric oxide (NO) released from nitroxidergic nerves was studied in isolated monkey cerebral arteries. In arterial strips denuded of endothelium, transmural electrical stimulation (2‐20 Hz) produced relaxations that were abolished by tetrodotoxin. 2. The relaxation response was attenuated by acetylcholine, and the attenuation was reversed by atropine. Attenuation was also observed with AF‐DX 116, an antagonist of the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor subtype, M2. NO‐induced relaxation was not affected by acetylcholine. Neurogenic relaxation was also inhibited by physostigmine and potentiated by atropine. 3. VIP in concentrations that elicited slight relaxation did not alter the response to nerve stimulation. In the strips showing tachyphylaxis to VIP, the neurogenic response was not inhibited. 4. Histochemical studies of whole‐mount preparations revealed nerve fibres with NO synthase and VIP immunoreactivity, and also acetylcholinesterase, suggesting the presence of perivascular nitroxidergic, VIPergic and cholinergic innervation. 5. It is concluded that the actions of nitroxidergic nerve fibres on the monkey cerebral artery are inhibited by nerve‐released acetylcholine acting on prejunctional muscarinic receptors, possibly of the M2 subtype. Despite the presence of VIP immunoreactive nerve fibres and the ability of exogenous VIP to relax the artery, there is no evidence supporting either a prejunctional modulation of nitroxidergic nerve function by VIP or a role for VIP as a vasodilatory neurotransmitter.

Nitric oxide mediates, and acetylcholine modulates, neurally induced relaxation of bovine cerebral arteries

Helical strips of bovine basilar arteries denuded of the endothelium responded to transmural electrical stimulation with frequency-dependent relaxations that were abolished or markedly attenuated by treatment with tetrodotoxin, oxyhemoglobin and Methylene Blue. Relaxations induced by vasoactive intestinal polypeptide and calcitonin gene-related peptide were not affected by oxyhemoglobin and Methylene Blue. The neurally induced relaxation was not attenuated in the artery made unresponsive to these peptides by successive application. The relaxation caused by nerve stimulation was markedly inhibited by treatment with NG-nitro-L-arginine, a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, which did not inhibit the relaxation caused by exogenously applied nitric oxide. The inhibition was reversed by L-arginine but not by the D-enantiomer. Exogenously applied acetylcholine did not alter the tone of endothelium-denuded arteries. Neurally induced relaxations were attenuated by treatment with acetylcholine and physostigmine and were significantly potentiated by atropine. It may be concluded that the relaxation induced by nerve stimulation is mediated by nitric oxide, but not by vasoactive intestinal polypeptide or calcitonin gene-related peptide, derived from vasodilator nerves innervating the bovine basilar artery, and the nerve function is inhibited prejunctionally via muscarinic receptor activation by acetylcholine released from cholinergic nerves but is not influenced by vasoactive intestinal polypeptide.

Analysis of the potentiating action of NG-nitro-l-arginine on the contraction of the dog temporal artery elicited by transmural stimulation of noradrenergic nerves

SummaryDog temporal artery strips without endothelium responded to transmural electrical stimulation with a contraction which was potentiated by NG-nitro-l-arginine (l-NNA). The noradrenaline-induced contraction and the release of 3H-noradrenaline were not affected. The stimulation-induced contraction was reversed to a relaxation by phentolamine. The relaxation was not influenced by timolol and atropine but inhibited by l-NNA; l-arginine abolished the inhibition. Transmural stimulation released NOx from the arteries, the release being abolished by l-NNA. Potentiation by l-NNA of the neurally-induced contraction appears to be due to elimination of NO produced by non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic vasodilator nerve activation.