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J Appl Physiol 82: 1918-1925, 1997;
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Journal of Applied Physiology
Vol. 82, No. 6, pp. 1918-1925, June 1997
PULMONARY CIRCULATION AND LUNG FLUID BALANCE

Norepinephrine-induced contraction of isolated rabbit bronchial artery: role of alpha 1- and alpha 2-adrenoceptor activation

A. O. A. Zschauer, M. W. Sielczak, D. A. S. Smith, and A. Wanner

Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Mount Sinai Medical Center, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami Beach, Florida 33140

ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
FOOTNOTES
REFERENCES


ABSTRACT

Zschauer, A. O. A., M. W. Sielczak, D. A. S. Smith, and A. Wanner. Norepinephrine-induced contraction of isolated rabbit bronchial artery: role of alpha 1- and alpha 2-adrenoceptor activation. J. Appl. Physiol. 82(6): 1918-1925, 1997.---The contractile effect of norepinephrine (NE) on isolated rabbit bronchial artery rings (150-300 µm in diameter) and the role of alpha 1- and alpha 2-adrenoceptors (AR) on smooth muscle and endothelium were studied. In intact arteries, NE increased tension in a dose-dependent manner, and the sensitivity for NE was further increased in the absence of endothelium. In intact but not in endothelium-denuded arteries, the response to NE was increased in the presence of both indomethacin (Indo; cyclooxygenase inhibitor) and NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester [L-NAME; nitric oxide (NO) synthase inhibitor], indicating that two endothelium-derived factors, NO and a prostanoid, modulate the NE-induced contraction. The alpha 1-AR antagonist prazosin shifted the NE dose-response curve to the right, and phenylephrine (alpha 1-AR agonist) induced a dose-dependent contraction that was potentiated by L-NAME or removal of the endothelium. The sensitivity to NE was increased slightly by the alpha 2-AR antagonists yohimbine and idazoxan, and this effect was abolished by Indo or removal of the endothelium. Similarly, contractions induced by UK-14304 (alpha 2-AR agonist) were potentiated by Indo or removal of the endothelium. These results suggest that NE-induced contraction is mediated through activation of alpha 1- and alpha 2-ARs on both smooth muscle and endothelium. Activation of the alpha 1- and alpha 2-ARs on the smooth muscle causes contraction, whereas activation of the endothelial alpha 1- and alpha 2-ARs induces relaxation through release of NO (alpha 1-ARs) and a prostanoid (alpha 2-ARs).

endothelium-derived relaxing factors; nitric oxide; prostanoid; vasoconstriction


INTRODUCTION

ADRENERGIC NEURONS, the major source of physiologically active norepinephrine (NE), have been shown to innervate the bronchial arteries in several species (5, 25). In most blood vessels innervated by sympathetic neurons, NE activates postjunctional alpha -adrenoceptors (alpha -ARs), thereby causing contraction of the vascular smooth muscle. Vascular alpha -ARs are divided into two major subtypes, alpha 1- and alpha 2. In contrast to larger arteries, which generally have only alpha 1-ARs mediating contraction, both alpha 1- and alpha 2-ARs are involved in the constrictor response of resistance arteries (i.e., arteries with diameters <500 µM) to NE (18).

The decrease of bronchial arterial blood flow by alpha -adrenergic agonists and increase in bronchovascular resistance have been demonstrated (1, 22), and recently the contractile effect of NE has been described in isolated bronchial arteries of dogs, pigs, and cows (23). However, information on the roles of alpha 1- and alpha 2-ARs and the endothelium in bronchial arterial responsiveness to NE is lacking.

In the present study we therefore isolated the main bronchial branches of the bronchoesophageal artery in rabbits and characterized the role of smooth muscle and endothelial alpha -ARs in NE-induced contractions of these resistance vessels. Our study showed evidence for alpha 1- and alpha 2-adrenergic modulation of NE-induced contraction and that both receptor subtypes are located on smooth muscle and endothelium.


MATERIALS AND METHODS

Preparation of arterial rings. New Zealand albino rabbits were killed by an overdose of pentobarbital sodium and exsanguinated. The animals' chests were surgically opened and the lung, along with trachea, esophagus, and heart, including the surrounding blood vessels, were isolated and placed on a tray containing N-2-hydroxyethylpiperazine-N'-2-ethanesulfonic acid solution. Under a dissecting microscope, the bronchoesophageal artery was identified at the tracheal carina. The right branch of this artery arises from the highest right intercostal artery and the left branch either from the aorta, left common carotid artery, or from the highest right intercostal artery (4).

Small branches of the bronchial artery measuring 150-300 µm in diameter (outer diamter) were isolated, cleaned of connective tissue, and cut into 2-mm-long pieces. Some of these pieces were used on the same day, and the remaining pieces were stored overnight at 4°C and used the next day. There was no systematic difference in the dose-response curves (DRCs) to NE on freshly isolated and 1-day-old arteries. Histological section with the use of Van Gieson's stain (13) to demonstrate the elastic fibers in the tunica intima confirmed that isolated vessels were arteries.

For the functional studies, the arterial ring was fixed by two tungsten wires (20 µm) by using a previously described system (30). The rings were given a preload of 120-200 mg. The preload was chosen as the tension that gave maximal contraction to a 72.5 mM K+ solution.

In some experiments, the endothelium of the bronchial artery was removed by rubbing the luminal surface of the vessel with a human hair. The usual way to test for successful removal of the endothelium in such a preparation is by demonstrating the lack of relaxant response to acetylcholine (ACh). Table 1 summarizes the data for experiments in intact and endothelium-denuded arteries in which the effect of 1 µM ACh was measured. After the response to ACh was determined, a cumulative DRC to NE was performed as described below (see Contraction experiments). The data in Table 1 showed that ACh caused relaxation of intact arteries and a slight contractile response in denuded arteries. Although these responses could be used to distinguish between intact and denuded arteries, a clearer separation was achieved by the contractile responses to NE. In the denuded arteries, the contractile response to 1 µM NE as a percentage of the response to 5 µM NE (NE ratio) was very much increased from the NE ratio calculated for intact arteries; the NE ratio was 62% in endothelium-denuded arteries compared with 40% in intact arteries (Table 1). Using this NE ratio, we found that only 1 of the 11 intact tissues had an NE ratio >60%, and only 2 of 9 denuded arteries had a NE ratio <60%. We found a much greater variability by using the ACh-induced relaxation/contraction criteria to categorize these same tissues. The ACh response failed to identify 4 of the 11 intact arteries and 6 of the 9 denuded arteries. This type of variability to ACh has been observed in other preparations (2). Thus for the rabbit bronchial arteries, we considered the NE ratio a more reliable measure of endothelial removal. Therefore, for the present experiments, tissues were considered to be devoid of endothelium if the NE ratio was >= 60%.

Table  1.   Comparison of ACh- and NE-induced contractions in intact and endotheliumdenuded arteries
Artery 1 µM ACh-Induced Contraction, %  NE-Induced Contraction, % 
NE Ratio, % 
1 µM 5 µM

Intact  -7.6 ± 3.0  22.1 ± 8.0  46.9 ± 9.0  40.2 ± 6.0 
Endothelium-denuded 1.7 ± 1.0dagger 48.8 ± 9.0* 78.9 ± 11.0* 61.9 ± 6.0*

Values are means ± SE of experiments on 11 (intact) and 9 (endothelium-denuded) different arterial segments. ACh, acetylcholine; NE, norepinephrine. Contractions are expressed as %contraction induced by 72.5 mM KCl. ACh-induced contraction/relaxation is measured on arteries precontracted by 20-30 mM KCl. * P < 0.05.  dagger P < 0.01 vs. intact artery.

Contraction experiments. Adrenergic agonist-induced contractions were studied by using cumulative DRCs. The contraction measurements were performed isometrically at 37°C. Changes in the incubation solution were made by injecting 10 ml of fresh solution into the bath and at the same time removing the old solution by suction at the side opposite the injection point. Before the solution was injected into the organ bath, it was oxygenated with pure oxygen and prewarmed to the experimental temperature (37°C) of the organ bath. The drugs were always added into the incubation solution.

The composition of the normal incubation solution (pH 7.4) was (in mM) 140 NaCl, 5 KCl, 1 MgCl2, 2 CaCl2, 10 glucose, and 10 N-2-hydroxyethylpiperazine-N'-2-ethanesulfonic acid.

When solutions with higher extracellular K+ concentration ([K+]o) are used, the addition of extra KCl was subtracted from the concentration of NaCl to maintain the osmolarity and Cl- concentration.

Before collecting data for each new experimental condition, we verified in separate tissue preparations that the response to alpha -agonists was reproducible. For experiments (e.g., Fig. 1B) in which the effect of one antagonist or inhibitor on alpha -agonist-induced contraction was studied, the reproducibility of tissue response was confirmed by repeating two consecutive DRCs in the absence of any inhibitors or antagonist. For experiments in which the effect of alpha 2-antagonists on NE-induced contraction under the influence of NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) or indomethacin (Indo; see Fig. 5, A-C) was studied, separate preparations were used to confirm the reproducibility of the DRCs for NE in the presence of L-NAME or Indo. If the two DRCs under control conditions were reproducible, then the actual experiments were conducted in a different preparation. In this preparation, the first DRC served as control for the second experimental DRC, which was performed in the presence of different antagonists and inhibitors. If the two DRCs under control conditions (like the DRCs induced by NE in endothelium-denuded arteries) were not reproducible, the values of the second DRC performed under control conditions (preparation 1) were compared with the values of the second DRC under the experimental conditions (preparation 2). In each preparation, the developed tension of each cumulative was expressed as the percentage of the contraction achieved by 5 µM agonist in the respective, first DRC of the same preparation.
Fig. 1. A: norepinephrine (NE)-induced contraction in intact (open circle ) and endothelium-denuded (bullet ) rabbit bronchial arteries. Contractions are expressed as %contraction induced by 72.5 mM KCl. Values are means ± SE of experiments in 3 different arterial segments in intact and endothelium-denuded arteries. B and C: NE-induced contraction of intact rabbit bronchial arteries in absence (control; open circle ) and presence of 10 µM NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME; black-square; B) and 1 µM indomethacin (Indo; black-triangle; C). Contractions are expressed as %contraction induced by 5 µM NE under control conditions. Values are means ± SE of experiments in 5 (B) and 4 (C) different arterial segments. D: NE-induced contraction of endothelium-denuded arteries in the absence (control; open circle ) and presence of 10 µM L-NAME (black-square) and 1 µM Indo (black-triangle). Values are means ± SE of experiments in 4 (open circle ), 3 (black-square), and 4 (black-triangle) different arterial segments. Contraction is expressed as %contraction induced by 5 µM NE under control conditions. Significantly different vs. intact artery (A and D) or control (B and C): * P < 0.05; ** P < 0.01; *** P < 0.001.
[View Larger Version of this Image (36K GIF file)]


Fig. 5. NE-induced contraction of intact rabbit bronchial artery during 10 µM L-NAME (A) or 1 µM Indo (B and C) incubation in absence (control; open circle ) and presence (bullet ) of 1 µM yohimbine (B) and 1 µM idazoxan (A and C). Values are means ± SE of experiments in 4 (A), 3 (B), and 4 (C) different arterial segments. D and E: NE- and PE-induced contraction in endothelium-denuded arteries in absence (control; open circle ) and presence (bullet ) of 1 µM idaxozan. Values are means ± SE of experiments in 4 different arterial segments. Contractions are expressed as %contraction induced by 5 µM NE (D) or 5 µM PE (E) under control conditions. Significantly different vs. intact artery (A) or control (B): * P < 0.05; ** P < 0.01; *** P < 0.001.
[View Larger Version of this Image (31K GIF file)]

To compare the corresponding effect in intact and endothelium-denuded arteries, the contractions were expressed as the percentage of the contraction induced by 72.5 mM KCl (maximal contraction).

When the effect of inhibitors on a single dose of alpha 2-agonist-induced contraction was studied (see Fig. 6B), the control contractions were repeated until three identical consecutive contractions were seen.
Fig. 6. A: UK-14304 (UK)-induced contractions of intact (open circle ) and endothelium-denuded (bullet ) bronchial arteries. Values are means ± SE of experiments in 12 (open circle ) and 6 (bullet ) different arterial segments. Contractions are expressed as %contraction induced by 5 µM UK. B: 1 µM UK-induced contraction in absence (control) and presence of 10 µM L-NAME or 1 µM Indo. Values are means ± SE of experiments in 4 different arterial segments. Contractions are expressed as %control value. Significantly different vs. control: * P < 0.05; ** P < 0.01; *** P < 0.001.
[View Larger Version of this Image (18K GIF file)]

Statistical analysis was performed by either independent or paired Student's t-tests. P < 0.05 was considered as significant. The data were expressed as means ± SE, if not otherwise indicated.

Drugs. The following drugs were used: atrenolol (NE) was from Sigma Chemical (St. Louis, MO), and idazoxan, Indo, L-NAME, phenylephrine (PE), prazosin, propranolol, UK-14,304 (UK), and yohimbine were from Research Biochemicals International (Natick, MA).


RESULTS

Characteristics of NE-induced contraction and influence of endothelium. In normal physiological solution, it was not possible to obtain a DRC; the first measurable contraction was seen at a submaximal concentration (3 µM) of NE. The bronchial artery was therefore depolarized by increasing the KCl concentration of the incubation solution from 5 to 10 mM. For these experiments we chose to use 10 mM KCl; at this concentration, KCl caused only minimal contractions in some tissues. In the presence of 10 mM KCl, the threshold of the arterial responses to NE decreased, and, furthermore, the response to 3 µM NE was substantially increased from 148 ± 22 to 365 ± 32 mg (n = 51, P < 0.001). All subsequent experiments, if not otherwise mentioned, were therefore performed in the presence of 10 mM extracellular KCl.

NE-induced contractions were dose dependent (Fig. 1) and, in these preparations, were not significantly influenced by the beta -AR antagonist propranolol (1 µM; data not shown).

In endothelium-denuded arteries, the 50% effective concentration (EC50) value for NE was shifted to the left compared with intact arteries, indicating the presence of endothelium-derived relaxing factor(s) (Fig. 1A). The EC50 values for NE in intact and endothelium-denuded arteries (made by parallel experiments on different bronchial arterial segments from same animal) were 1.81 ± 0.34 µM (n = 3) and 0.65 ± 0.07 µM (n = 3), respectively (P < 0.001), and the maximal contraction induced by NE was increased in endothelium-denuded arteries when contractions were expressed as the percentage of the contraction induced by 72.5 mM KCl. To test the possibility that nitric oxide (NO) and/or relaxing prostanoids modulate NE-induced contractions, the DRCs in intact and endothelium-denuded arteries were obtained in the absence and presence of 10 µM L-NAME, a NO synthase inhibitor, or 1 µM Indo, a cyclooxygenase inhibitor (30-min preincubation). In intact arteries, the EC50 value for NE was 1.98 ± 0.14 µM in the absence and 1.28 ± 0.15 µM in the presence of 10 µM L-NAME (n = 5, P < 0.05; Fig. 1B). The corresponding values for 1 µM Indo were 1.70 ± 0.41 and 1.01 ± 0.32 µM, respectively (n = 4, P < 0.05; Fig. 1C). The maximal contraction induced by NE was increased in the presence of both L-NAME and Indo. In endothelium-denuded arteries, L-NAME and Indo had no significant effect on NE-induced contractions, indicating that both relaxing factors originate in the endothelium (Fig. 1D).

Role of alpha 1-ARs in NE-induced contraction. In intact arteries, 0.1 µM prazosin, a specific alpha 1-AR antagonist, shifted the DRC for NE to the right, indicating that alpha 1-AR might be involved in the contractile effect of NE (Fig. 2A). This finding was confirmed by the DRCs for the alpha 1-agonist PE, which revealed EC50 values of 1.49 ± 0.21 and 0.73 ± 19 µM (n = 7) in intact and endothelium-denuded arteries, respectively (Fig. 2B). In endothelium-denuded arteries, the EC50 value for PE was significantly (P < 0.05) shifted to the left, and the maximal contraction induced by 5 µM PE was larger than the contraction induced by 5 µM PE in intact arteries (Fig. 2B). The PE-induced contractions were repeated in the presence of 1 µM yohimbine, a specific alpha 2-AR antagonist (Fig. 2C). At PE concentrations >3 µM, the contractions were sensitive to yohimbine, indicating alpha 2-AR activation.
Fig. 2. A: NE-induced contraction of intact rabbit bronchial artery in absence (control; open circle ) and presence (bullet ) of 0.1 µM prazosin. Contraction is expressed as %contraction induced by 5 µM NE under control conditions. Values are means ± SE of experiments in 4 different arterial segments. B: phenylephrine (PE)-induced contraction in intact (open circle ) and endothelium-denuded (bullet ) arteries expressed as %contraction induced by 72.5 mM KCl. Values are means ± SE of experiments in 7 different arterial segments. C: PE-induced contraction in absence (control; open circle ) and presence (bullet ) of 1 µM yohimbine. Values are means ± SE of experiments in 4 different arterial segments. Significantly different vs. control (A and C) or intact artery (B): * P < 0.05; ** P < 0.01; *** P < 0.001.
[View Larger Version of this Image (26K GIF file)]

To specify which one of the two factors (NO and/or the prostanoid) found in connection with NE activation was involved in the alpha 1-AR activation, DRCs for PE were performed in the absence (control) and the presence of either 10 µM L-NAME or 1 µM Indo in intact arteries. PE-induced contraction was sensitive to both but more to L-NAME than Indo (Fig. 3, A and B). The effects of L-NAME and Indo on PE- and NE-induced contractions were compared at 1 µM concentrations to avoid nonspecific alpha 2-AR activation by PE (Fig. 3C). This comparison showed that NE-induced contraction was affected by both L-NAME and Indo, whereas PE-induced contraction was primarily influenced by L-NAME, indicating that NO release is mediated especially by alpha 1-AR.
Fig. 3. PE-induced contraction of intact rabbit artery in absence (open circle ) and presence (bullet ) of 10 µM L-NAME (A) and 1 µM Indo (B). Values are means ± SE of experiments in 7 (A) and 5 (B) different arterial segments. Contractions are expressed as %contraction induced by 5 µM PE under control conditions. C: 1 µM NE- and 1 µM PE-induced contractions in absence and in presence of 10 µM L-NAME and 1 µM Indo. Values are means ± SE of experiments in different arterial segments. Nos. above each bar, nos. of arterial segments. Values are expressed as %contraction produced by 1 µM NE or 1 µM PE alone. In control experiment, contractions were performed in duplicate, and 2nd value was expressed as %1st value. Significantly different vs. control: * P < 0.05; ** P < 0.01; *** P < 0.001.
[View Larger Version of this Image (25K GIF file)]

Role of alpha 2-ARs in NE-induced contraction. In intact arteries, the alpha 2-AR antagonists idazoxan and yohimbine increased the NE-induced contractions only at NE concentrations >1 µM (Fig. 4), indicating that NE-induced contraction might be slightly attenuated through activation of alpha 2-AR.
Fig. 4. NE-induced contraction of intact rabbit bronchial artery in absence (control; open circle ) and presence (bullet ) of 0.1 µM idazoxan (A; n = 8), 1.0 µM idazoxan (B; n = 8), and 1.0 µM yohimbine (C; n = 8). Values are means ± SE. Contractions are expressed as %contraction induced by 5 µM NE under control conditions. * P < 0.05 vs. control.
[View Larger Version of this Image (27K GIF file)]

To determine whether NO or a prostanoid was involved in the alpha 2-AR antagonist-mediated attenuation of NE-induced contraction, the effect of idazoxan and yohimbine in the presence of 10 µM L-NAME or 1 µM Indo was studied in intact arteries. L-NAME did not change the sensitivity of the NE-induced contraction to the alpha 2-adrenergic antagonist idazoxan (Fig. 5A vs. Fig. 4B). In contrast, Indo prevented the yohimbine-induced potentiation of NE-induced contraction (Fig. 5B vs. Fig. 4C) and converted the idazoxan-induced potentiation to an attenuation of NE-induced contraction (Fig. 5C vs. Fig. 4B). These results suggested that activation of alpha 2-AR might be involved in NE-induced contraction by releasing a smooth muscle-relaxing prostanoid. These results recorded in intact arteries in the presence of Indo could be repeated in endothelium-denuded arteries in the absence of Indo (Fig. 5D), indicating that the prostanoid originated from the endothelium. Idazoxan shifted the PE-induced contraction to the right in endothelium-denuded arteries as well, suggesting non-alpha 2-antagonist actions (Fig. 5E).

Next, the effect of the alpha 2-adrenergic agonist UK was studied. In 10 mM KCl solutions, UK induced no or very weak contractions, but the response to UK was enhanced by increasing the KCl concentration further to 15 mM. Maximal contractions induced by adding 15 mM KCl solution alone were not >5% of the contraction induced by 72.5 mM KCl. In intact arteries, UK induced a dose-dependent contraction at concentrations >0.5 µM, and no clear plateau for the maximal contraction was reached (Fig. 6A). Endothelium-denuded arteries were more sensitive to UK, suggesting the presence of alpha 2-ARs on both smooth muscle and endothelium (Fig. 6A). The effect of 10 µM L-NAME and 1 µM Indo on the contraction induced by a single (1 µM) dose of UK was studied in intact arteries. The UK-activated contraction was substantially increased by Indo, whereas the effect of L-NAME was small (Fig. 6B), indicating that the smooth muscle-relaxing prostanoid is released specially by alpha 2-ARs.


DISCUSSION

We conclude that 1) NE contracts isolated small bronchial arteries from rabbit by activation of alpha 1- and alpha 2-ARs on smooth muscle, and, in our experimental conditions, alpha 1-AR-mediated contraction is more potent than the alpha 2-AR-mediated contraction; 2) activation of alpha 1- and alpha 2-ARs on endothelium modulates NE-induced contraction; and 3) NO and a relaxant prostanoid serve as endothelium-relaxing factors, the former released mainly by alpha 1-AR activation and the latter mainly by alpha 2-AR activation.

NE-induced contractions. The present study showed that NE is a potent vasoconstrictor in the rabbit bronchial artery, confirming earlier observations made in the bronchial arteries of other species (23).

Mulvany et al. (17) demonstrated that in small mesenteric arteries, membrane potential variations had an important modulating influence on the tension response to exogenous NE. In our preparation, the contractile sensitivity for NE was considerably increased when [K+]o was increased from 5 to 10 mM. Similar effects have been shown in our earlier studies, in which the contractile sensitivity of rabbit ophthalmic arteries to NE and serotonin were clearly enhanced by increasing the [K+]o (30). The increased sensitivity at higher [K+]o could be explained by the ability of NE either to activate directly the potential-sensitive Ca2+ channels, as shown in rabbit mesenteric arteries (19), or to increase the force sensitivity to intracellular free Ca2+ (21, 27).

The endothelial cell is known to release several potent vasodilator substances, in particular prostacyclin (PGI2) (16) and endothelium-derived relaxing factor (8), recently identified as NO (24). In our study, either L-NAME (NO synthase inhibitor) or Indo (cyclooxygenase inhibitor) increased the sensitivity to NE in intact arteries, whereas in endothelium-denuded arteries, L-NAME and Indo had no effect on NE-induced contraction, indicating that in rabbit bronchial artery, two different types of endothelium-derived relaxant factors are released during NE activation: NO and a muscle-relaxing prostanoid.

The inability of propranolol, a nonspecific beta -blocker, to influence the NE-induced contraction (data not shown), suggests that beta -AR-mediated relaxant actions of NE were of minor importance in rabbit bronchial artery and that NE is mainly acting through alpha -ARs.

alpha 1- and alpha 2-ARs on smooth muscle cells. In the present study, both alpha 1- and alpha 2-AR subtypes were involved in the NE-induced contraction. The NE-induced contraction occurred largely through activation of alpha 1-ARs, as indicated by the high sensitivity of the NE-induced contraction to prazosin (alpha 1-antagonist). The high contractile sensitivity of endothelium-denuded arteries to PE (alpha 1-agonist) suggests that NE caused the contraction through direct activation of smooth muscle alpha 1-ARs. Our results are consistent with the in vitro findings in bronchial arteries of dogs, pigs, and cows (23), in which the major part of NE-induced contraction is due to a direct activation of alpha 1-ARs on smooth muscle cells.

In contrast to the relative ease of demonstrating alpha 1-AR-mediated contractions, the role of the alpha 2-AR in the contractile response to NE has been less clear. While postjunctional alpha 2-AR-mediated pressor responses have been reported in whole animals, it has been much more difficult to show alpha 1-agonist-resistant, alpha 2-antagonist-sensitive responses in isolated vascular preparations (15, 23). The reason for this discrepancy is not clear, but one explanation is that postjunctional alpha 2-ARs are predominantly located on the resistance vessels (14, 28). Recently, the presence of alpha 2-ARs has been shown on rat cremaster arterioles (7) and on human resistance arteries (20); and with our study we have obtained evidence of functional alpha 2-ARs on isolated rabbit bronchial resistance arteries.

Because of the simultaneous activation of alpha 2-ARs on endothelial cells, it was difficult to prove that activation of alpha 2-ARs on smooth muscle was part of the NE-induced contraction in our study. However, the rather high contractile response of endothelium-denuded arteries to UK (alpha 2-agonist) activation speaks for the existence of smooth muscle alpha 2-receptors. We found a wide variation in UK responsiveness, in both endothelium-denuded and intact arteries. A possible explanation for this variability is the inconstant presence of alpha 2-AR-sensitizing factors in vitro (26). Dunn et al. (6) showed in isolated distal saphenous artery from rabbit that responses mediated through postjunctional alpha 2-ARs were influenced by angiotensin II. Recent studies have shown that mediators such as endothelin-1 and angiotensin II cause sensitization to NE by increasing protein kinase C activity, which, in turn, increases the sensitivity of contractile proteins to intracellular free Ca2+ (9, 10).

alpha 1- and alpha 2-ARs on endothelium. In our preparations, endothelium regulated the contractile effect of NE by releasing two endothelial relaxing factors (NO and a prostanoid). In endothelium-denuded arteries, the sensitivity to PE (alpha 1-agonist) and UK (alpha 2-agonist) was significantly increased from that in intact arteries, indicating a possible involvement of both alpha 1- and alpha 2-ARs in the release of endothelial relaxing factors. In intact arteries, L-NAME had a greater potentiating effect than Indo on PE-induced, alpha 1-AR mediated contractions (Fig. 3), and Indo had a greater potentiating effect than L-NAME on UK-induced, alpha 2-mediated contractions (Fig. 6B). These findings suggest that, in rabbit bronchial arteries, the endothelial cells possess both functional alpha 1- and alpha 2-ARs and that the alpha 1-ARs activate mainly the release of NO and the alpha 2-ARs the release of the prostanoid.

The involvement of alpha 2-AR-induced prostanoid release on NE-induced contractions was demonstrated in experiments in which the alpha 2-AR-antagonists (yohimbine and idazoxan) potentiated NE-induced contraction in intact arteries in the absence and presence of L-NAME but not in intact arteries when Indo was present or in the endothelium-denuded arteries (Figs. 4 and 5). The observation that, in Indo-treated intact arteries, idazoxan created a shift of the NE-induced DRC to the right but yohimbine did not (Fig. 5, B and C) was a reason to suspect that idazoxan might have actions other than alpha 2-antagonist properties. This was proven to be true with experiments in endothelium-denuded arteries, in which idazoxan also shifted the PE-induced contraction to the right. Many alpha 2-AR agonists and antagonists, including idazoxan, bind also with high affinity to nonadrenergic (i.e., imidazole) binding sites (3), and thus the idazoxan-produced inhibition of the NE- and PE-activated contractions could be explained by idazoxan-induced activation of imidazole receptors on the smooth muscle cells.

In other vascular vessels, endothelial cells are also known to release endothelium-derived relaxing factors by activation of alpha 2- or alpha 1-ARs (11, 12, 29). However, our study is the first to show that NE simultaneously releases two different endothelium-derived relaxing factors (NO and a prostanoid) and that these factors are released by activation of two separate alpha -AR subtypes (alpha 1 for NO and alpha 2 for the prostanoid). For most preparations studied to date, NO release has been associated with alpha 2-adrenergic activation. In the rabbit bronchial artery, alpha 2-adrenergic activation appears to release a relaxing prostanoid rather than NO. This suggests that different relaxant factors and alpha -AR subtypes may be involved in different vascular beds and animal species.


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This study is supported by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Grant HL-20989.


FOOTNOTES

Address for reprint requests: A. O. A. Zschauer, Dept. of Research, Mount Sinai Medical Center, 4300 Alton Rd., Miami Beach, FL 33140.

Received 4 October 1996; accepted in final form 12 February 1997.


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