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Relaxant effects of BRL 38227 and pinacidil on the rat gastric fundus.

Concentration-effect curves for BRL 38227 (lemakalim) and pinacidil were obtained in longitudinal muscle strips of the rat gastric fundus contracted by prostaglandin F2 alpha. Both agents induced a concentration-dependent relaxation, with BRL 38227 (EC50 = 3 x 10(-6) M) being more potent than pinacidil (EC50 = 8 x 10(-6) M). Glibenclamide (10(-7), 10(-6) and 10(-5) M) antagonized the relaxant effect of BRL 38227 and pinacidil but neither antagonism was of the simple competitive type. Phentolamine (10(-7), 10(-6) and 10(-5) M) competitively antagonized the effect of pinacidil and non-competitively that of BRL 38227. Glibenclamide had no influence on the relaxant effect induced by vasoactive intestinal polypeptide or by electrical field stimulation in the presence of atropine and guanethidine. The results suggest that glibenclamide-sensitive K+ channels are present in the rat gastric fundus and that they do not mediate the inhibitory response to non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic neurostimulation.

Animals↗

Vasodilatation of canine cerebral arteries by nicorandil, pinacidil and lemakalim.

1. Nicorandil, pinacidil and lemakalim relaxed precontracted rings of canine cerebral artery. 2. The order of potency was lemakalim greater than nicorandil approximately equal to pinacidil, but all these agents were less effective than nimodipine. 3. The effects of nicorandil were inhibited by methylene blue but not by glibenclamide, while the effects of pinacidil and lemakalim were inhibited by glibenclamide but not by methylene blue. 4. Thus nicorandil probably causes relaxation mostly by effects on guanylate cyclase while lemakalim and pinacidil produce the same effect by action at ATP-dependent potassium channels.

Animals↗

Selective inhibition of pinacidil effects by estrogen in guinea pig heart.

BACKGROUND: Recently, gender related differences in heart function have been extensively studied. Some of them, as differences in repolarization between males and females have been explained by direct effect of estrogen on delayed rectifier K+ channels and Ca2+ channels. It seems that estrogen induces overexpression of SUR2A subunits of ATP-sensitive K+ channels. The aim of this paper was to compare heart rate changes in male and female guinea pigs in the presence of different potassium channel openers (PCOs). METHODS: We used spontaneously beating right atria from control and estrogen receptor modulator-treated male and female guinea pigs (17-beta-estradiol as a stimulator and tamoxifen as a blocker of estrogen receptor located in heart muscle). RESULTS: In control females, rilmakalim and diazoxide, but not pinacidil elicited concentration-dependent decrease of heart rate. On the other hand, all three PCOs induced similar negative chronotropic action in hearts obtained from male control group (Emax was between -40 and -70 bpm, respectively). After two weeks of treatment with 17-beta-estradiol, pinacidil failed to significantly decrease heart rate in males however, tamoxifen-pretreated female group responded by decrease in automatism in the presence of rising concentration of pinacidil (Emax=-45+/-6 bpm, not significantly different from Emax in male control=-40+/-5 bpm, n=7). Interestingly, we observed lower blood concentration of the heart form of lactate dehydrogenase (H-LDH) in female than in male control group. Moreover, H-LDH concentration increased in tamoxifen-pretreated female group and decreased in 17-beta-estradiol-treated male group. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that estrogen downregulates H-LDH production and specifically modulate pinacidil action in guinea pig right atria, probably by changes of binding site for this drug in SUR2A receptor, but not for rilmakalim and diazoxide.

Animals↗

Advantages of continuous hyperpolarized arrest with pinacidil over St. Thomas' Hospital solution during prolonged ischemia.

OBJECTIVE: The potassium channel opener, pinacidil, has been shown to be an effective cardioplegic agent over short periods of ischemia. However, clinical settings typically involve longer ischemic periods. This study tested the hypothesis that myocardial protection with a potassium channel opener is feasible during prolonged periods of arrest and is comparable with the traditional St. Thomas' Hospital solution. METHODS: With a blood-perfused, isolated rabbit heart model, hearts underwent 1 hour of global normothermic ischemia followed by 30 minutes of reperfusion. During ischemia, three different cardioplegic solutions were administered either intermittently by infusion every 20 minutes or as continuous low-flow cardioplegia (150 ml total volume in all groups): (1) Krebs-Henseleit solution alone (control), (2) Krebs-Henseleit solution + pinacidil (50 micromol/L), or (3) St. Thomas' Hospital solution. Initial potassium channel opener infusions contained 5 mmol/L procaine. Postreperfusion systolic function (percent of developed pressure) was measured. Compliance changes were integrated from the end-diastolic pressure/volume relationships. RESULTS: For intermittent cardioplegia, only St. Thomas' Hospital solution improved function (62.5% +/- 4.0%) versus control (43.6% +/- 3.3%,p < 0.001). However, with continuous cardioplegia, only pinacidil (75.6% +/- 4.8%) exceeded control (62.7% +/- 2.2%, p < 0.001) and was significantly better than St. Thomas' Hospital solution. Compared with the intermittent control group, all other groups showed significant preservation of preischemic diastolic properties. CONCLUSIONS: Myocardial protection during a longer, more clinically relevant ischemic period is feasible with a potassium channel opener only when it is given continuously. Continuous low-flow pinacidil cardioplegia was superior to St. Thomas' Hospital solution given either as an intermittent or continuous infusion.

Animals↗

The action of pinacidil in the isolated human bladder.

The need for effective symptomatic treatment of patients with detrusor hyperactivity is widely recognized. In search of new principles of decreasing bladder contraction we have studied the effects of pinacidil on the isolated human bladder. Pinacidil is a recently developed antihypertensive agent classified as a K+ channel opener, and is believed to depress smooth muscle activity by this action. Pinacidil concentration-dependently depressed contractions elicited by carbachol, low concentrations of K+ (less than 60 mM) and electrical stimulation. In addition it caused a concentration-related increase in the efflux of 86Rb from preloaded detrusor cells. The effects on 86Rb efflux could be inhibited by tetraethylammonium chloride and procaine, but not by apamin, agents known to block K+-channels. The results support the view that part of the pinacidil effect on the human bladder is caused by an opening of K+-channels, efflux of K+ and subsequent hyperpolarization of the detrusor cells. Clinical testing of this new therapeutic principle for treatment of bladder hyperactivity seems justified.

Antihypertensive Agents↗

Effects of cromakalim, pinacidil and glibenclamide on cholinergic transmission in rat isolated atria.

The effect of the potassium channel openers cromakalim and pinacidil, and the potassium channel blocking drug glibenclamide, were investigated on cholinergic transmission in rat isolated atrial preparations which had been incubated with [3H]-choline to incorporate [3H]-acetylcholine into the cholinergic transmitter stores. The efflux of radioactivity evoked by electrical field stimulation of intrinsic parasympathetic nerves (pulses at 5 Hz frequency in trains of 60 s duration) was taken as an index of transmitter acetylcholine release. Stimulation-induced (S-I) efflux of radioactivity was virtually abolished by tetrodotoxin (1 mu M) and by the removal of Ca2+ from the atrial superfusion fluid. The muscarinic cholinoceptor antagonist atropine (0.3 mu M) and the alpha2-adrenoceptor antagonist idazoxan (0.3 mu M) each enhanced the S-I efflux. Cromakalim (1 and 10 mu M) produced concentration-dependent reductions in S-I efflux. Pinacidil (10 mu M) also reduced S-I efflux. The inhibition of S-I efflux produced by cromakalim (10 mu M) and pinacidil (10 mu M) was prevented by the ATP-sensitive potassium channel blocking drug glibenclamide (1 mu M). Moreover, glibenclamide (1 mu M) alone enhanced S-I efflux. The findings suggest that cromakalim and pinacidil may inhibit transmitter acetylcholine release from atrial parasympathetic nerves by activation of ATP-sensitive potassium channels. In addition, the finding that glibenclamide alone enhanced S-I efflux in radiolabelled atrial preparations suggests that ATP-sensitive potassium channels are activated under the experimental conditions employed. Taken together, the findings indicate that, in rat atria, ATP-sensitive potassium channels may play a functional role in the regulation of transmitter acetylcholine release from parasympathetic cholinergic nerve terminals.

Acetylcholine↗

Pretreatment of brain dead rabbits with pinacidil before prolonged cold-storage with an extracellular solution alters aortic endothelial function.

OBJECTIVE: Endothelial injury occurs during heart transplantation and contributes to the development of cardiac allograft vasculopathy. We have evaluated in a brain death model in the rabbit whether pre-treatment with the potassium channel opener (PCO) pinacidil before prolonged hypothermic storage with an extracellular solution would improve vascular endothelial recovery. METHODS: Rabbits were randomized into 4 experimental groups (n = 8 per group). In the control group (CTRL), abdominal aortic rings were assessed immediately after 90 minutes of anesthesia. In the brain death group (BD), aortic rings were assessed immediately after 90 minutes of brain death. In the STH group, aortic rings taken from brain dead rabbits were stored for 24 hours at 4 degrees C with the extracellular preservation solution of St. Thomas Hospital (STH) before assessment. In the STH + PCO group, the potassium channel opener pinacidil, 1 mg/kg, was administered intravenously to brain dead rabbits 10 minutes before explantation. Aortic rings were then stored for 24 hours at 4 degrees C with the STH solution before evaluation. Brain death was induced by rapid inflation of a sub-durally placed balloon and validated by clinical and electroencephalographic data. Concentration-response curves to acetylcholine (ACH, 10(-9) to 10(-4) mol/liter) and nitroglycerin (NGL, 10(-9) to 10(-5) mol/liter) were constructed in phenylephrinepre-contracted rings. RESULTS: ACH evoked a similar concentration-dependent relaxation in the CTRL (E(max): 95.8 +/- 2.9%; EC(50): -6.86 +/- 0.13 log M) and BD groups (E(max): 90.8 +/- 3.8%; EC(50): -6.75 +/- 0.15 log M). The concentration-relaxation curve was shifted rightward in the STH group (E(max): 76.7 +/- 7.1%; EC(50): -6.75 +/- 0.16 log M) in comparison with the CTRL and BD groups, but there were no significant differences in either E(max) or EC(50) values. After pinacidil pre-treatment, there was a further significant shift to the right of the concentration-relaxation curve to ACH (E(max): 77.4 +/- 5.0%; EC(50): -6.14 +/- 0.19 log M, p < 0.05 vs CTRL, BD and STH). There were no significant differences between groups in the concentration-relaxation curves to NGL in endothelium-intact and endothelium-denuded vascular rings (either E(max) or EC(50)). CONCLUSION: Pre-treatment of brain dead rabbits with pinacidil before prolonged cold-storage with STH solution significantly impaired endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation in comparison to storage with STH solution. The role of PCO pre-treatment in the context of cardiac transplantation needs to be reconsidered.

Analysis of Variance↗

NADH supplementation decreases pinacidil-primed I K ATP in ventricular cardiomyocytes by increasing intracellular ATP.

1 The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide (NADH) supplementation on the metabolic condition of isolated guinea-pig ventricular cardiomyocytes. The pinacidil-primed ATP-dependent potassium current I(K(ATP)) was used as an indicator of subsarcolemmal ATP concentration and intracellular adenine nucleotide contents were measured. 2 Membrane currents were studied using the patch-clamp technique in the whole-cell recording mode at 36-37 degrees C. Adenine nucleotides were determined by HPLC. 3 Under physiological conditions (4.3 mM ATP in the pipette solution, ATP(i)) I(K(ATP)) did not contribute to basal electrical activity. 4 The ATP-dependent potassium (K((ATP))) channel opener pinacidil activated I(K(ATP)) dependent on [ATP](i) showing a significantly more pronounced activation at lower (1 mM) [ATP](i). 5 Supplementation of cardiomyocytes with 300 micro g ml(-1) NADH (4-6 h) resulted in a significantly reduced I(K(ATP)) activation by pinacidil compared to control cells. The current density was 13.8+/-3.78 (n=6) versus 28.9+/-3.38 pA pF(-1) (n=19; P<0.05). 6 Equimolar amounts of the related compounds nicotinamide and NAD(+) did not achieve a similar effect like NADH. 7 Measurement of adenine nucleotides by HPLC revealed a significant increase in intracellular ATP (NADH supplementation: 45.6+/-1.88 nmol mg(-1) protein versus control: 35.4+/-2.57 nmol mg(-1) protein, P<0.000005). 8 These data show that supplementation of guinea-pig ventricular cardiomyocytes with NADH results in a decreased activation of I(K(ATP)) by pinacidil compared to control myocytes, indicating a higher subsarcolemmal ATP concentration. 9 Analysis of intracellular adenine nucleotides by HPLC confirmed the significant increase in ATP.

Action Potentials↗

Inhibitory mechanism of pinacidil on catecholamine secretion from the rat perfused adrenal gland evoked by cholinergic stimulation and membrane depolarization.

1. The present study attempted to investigate the effect of potassium channel openers on secretion of catecholamines (CA) evoked by cholinergic stimulation and membrane depolarization from rat isolated perfused adrenal gland. 2. The perfusion of pinacidil (30-300 microM) into an adrenal vein for 20 min produced dose-dependent inhibition of CA secretion evoked by acetylcholine (ACh; 5.32 mM), high K+ (56 mM), 1,1-dimethyl-4-phenylpiperazinium iodide (DMPP; 100 microM for 2 min), 3-(m-chloro-phenyl-carbamoyl-oxy)-2-butynyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (McN-A-343; 100 microM for 2 min), cyclopiazonic acid (CPA; 10 microM for 4 min) and methyl-1,4-dihydro-2,6-dimethyl-3-nitro-4-(2-trifluoromethylphenyl)-pyri dine-5-carboxylate (Bay-K-8644; 10 microM for 4 min). 3. In the presence of minoxidil (100 microM), which is also known to be a potassium channel activator, CA secretory responses evoked by ACh, high potassium, DMPP, McN-A-343, Bay-K-8644 and CPA were also significantly depressed. 4. In adrenal glands preloaded with pinacidil (100 microM) in the presence of glibenclamide (GB; 1 microM), a specific blocker of ATP-regulated potassium channels, CA secretory responses evoked by ACh, high potassium, DMPP, McN-A-343, Bay-K-8644 and CPA were restored to a considerable extent of the control release as compared with that of pinacidil only. 5. These results suggest that pinacidil causes marked inhibition of CA secretion evoked by stimulation of cholinergic (both nicotinic and muscarinic) receptors, as well as by membrane depolarization, indicating that this effect may be mediated by inhibiting influx of extracellular calcium and release of intracellular calcium in the rat adrenomedullary chromaffin cells. Furthermore, these findings suggest that these potassium channel opener-sensitive membrane potassium channels also play a modulatory role in regulating CA secretion.

3-Pyridinecarboxylic acid, 1,4-dihydro-2,6-dimethy↗

Cardiovascular effects of pinacidil and propranolol alone and in combination in normal humans.

The effects of a long-acting formulation of pinacidil (P1134), a new arteriolar vasodilator, have been investigated in normal humans. We observed the effects of pinacidil 37.5 mg when given alone, and when given in combination with propranolol 40 mg. The reflex tachycardia observed in the supine and standing positions after pinacidil was reduced by concurrent administration of propranolol. Combined treatment reduced systolic arterial pressure in the standing position from 117.0 +/- 2.5 to 98.3 +/- 3.5 mm Hg at 4 h after drug administration (p less than 0.01), which was greater than the hypotensive effect produced by either drug alone. These results indicate that the combination of pinacidil and a beta-adrenoceptor antagonist may be of value in the treatment of arterial hypertension.

Adult↗

Effects of pinacidil on myocardial blood flow and infarct size after acute left anterior descending coronary artery occlusion and reperfusion in awake dogs with and without a coexisting left circumflex coronary artery stenosis.

To determine whether partial stenosis of a second major coronary artery promoted vasodilator-induced coronary steal and increased infarct size after acute coronary artery occlusion, we produced acute myocardial infarction by 4-h left anterior descending coronary artery occlusion and 20-h reperfusion in awake dogs with and without a mild to moderate stenosis (33-72%) of the proximal left circumflex coronary artery. Dogs were randomized to receive intravenous (i.v.) normal saline or pinacidil, a new antihypertensive agent with a marked coronary dilator property, beginning 40 min after onset of coronary artery occlusion and continuing throughout the occlusion and the first hour of reperfusion. Pinacidil was titrated to decrease mean aortic pressure 25 mm Hg, which resulted in an increase in heart rate (HR), cardiac output (CO), and left ventricular (LV) dP/dt and LVdP/dt/P. Saline infusion had no effects. Blood flows to ischemic and remote myocardium did not differ between dogs with and without coronary stenosis. Pinacidil increased blood flow threefold in normal myocardium, but had no effect on infarct zone myocardial blood flow or infarct size (58 +/- 4% of region at risk vs. 56 +/- 4% in animals receiving normal saline) in dogs without coronary stenosis. In contrast, similar administration of pinacidil in dogs with coronary stenosis reduced infarct size zone myocardial blood flow and increased infarct size (69 +/- 3% vs. 55 +/- 5% in the saline group, p less than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

Effect of MgATP on pinacidil-induced displacement of glibenclamide from the sulphonylurea receptor in a pancreatic beta-cell line and rat cerebral cortex.

1. The effects of blockers and openers of K+ channels on binding of [3H]-glibenclamide to microsomes obtained from a pancreatic beta-cell line (HIT-T15) or rat cerebral cortex were examined. 2. The blockers quinine, chlorpromazine and thiopentone and the openers cromakalim [(+/- ) 6-cyano-3,4-dihydro-2,2-dimethyl-trans-4-(2-oxo-1- pyrrolidyl)-2H-benzo[b]pyran-3-ol] and minoxidil sulphate did not significantly interact with the sulphonylurea receptor of HIT-cells both at phosphorylating (presence of MgATP) and dephosphorylating (absence of MgATP) conditions. 3. In the absence of MgATP, pinacidil (200-500 microM) did not significantly displace [3H]-glibenclamide binding to microsomes from HIT-cells. The displacement of [3H]-glibenclamide binding was strongly enhanced by MgATP and was due to a decrease in the number of high affinity binding sites for glibenclamide. 4. MgATP enhanced pinacidil-induced inhibition of [3H]-glibenclamide binding to microsomes from rat cerebral cortex. 5. The effect of MgATP on pinacidil-induced inhibition of [3H]-glibenclamide binding was maintained after solubilization of the membranes from HIT-cells or rat cerebral cortex. 6. It is concluded that the sulphonylurea receptor is regulated not only by sulphonylureas but also by the K+ channel openers, diazoxide and pinacidil, and by protein phosphorylation. The binding sites for sulphonylureas and these K+ channel openers are not identical, but appear to be located at a single protein or at tightly associated proteins.

ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters↗

Comparisons of the effects of nicorandil, pinacidil, nicardipine and nitroglycerin on coronary vessels in the conscious dog: role of the endothelium.

1. The vasodilator properties of nicorandil on large and small coronary arteries were compared to those of nicardipine, pinacidil, nitroglycerin and acetylcholine in six conscious dogs. 2. Intravenous bolus injections of acetylcholine (0.1 micrograms kg-1), nitroglycerin (0.3-3 micrograms kg-1), pinacidil (10-100 micrograms kg-1), nicardipine (3-30 micrograms kg-1) and nicorandil (10-100 micrograms kg-1) dose-dependently increased circumflex coronary artery diameter and decreased coronary vascular resistance, indicating vasodilator effects on both conduit and resistance coronary arteries. 3. Three days after removal of the endothelium of the circumflex coronary artery (balloon angioplasty), pinacidil- and nicardipine-induced dilation of large coronary arteries was greatly reduced (both -76%, P < 0.01) whereas that produced by nitroglycerin and nicorandil was decreased only slightly and to a similar extent for both drugs (-19%, P < 0.01 and -28%, P < 0.05, respectively). 4. Thus in conscious dogs, nicardipine- and pinacidil-induced dilatation of large coronary arteries is endothelium-dependent. In contrast, the vasodilator effects of nitroglycerin and nicorandil on conduit vessels are endothelium-independent. 5. Finally, our results demonstrate that nicorandil dilates the large coronary arteries through its nitrate-like action and that the ATP-potassium channel opening properties of the drug are not involved in this effect in the conscious dog.

Acetylcholine↗

Activation by intracellular GDP, metabolic inhibition and pinacidil of a glibenclamide-sensitive K-channel in smooth muscle cells of rat mesenteric artery.

1. Single-channel recordings were made from cell-attached and isolated patches, and whole-cell currents were recorded under voltage clamp from single smooth muscle cells obtained by enzymic digestion of a small branch of the rat mesenteric artery. 2. In single voltage-clamped cells 1 mM uridine diphosphate (UDP) or guanidine diphosphate (GDP) added to the pipette solution, or pinacidil (100 microM) a K-channel opener (KCO) applied in the bathing solution, evoked an outward current of up to 100pA which was blocked by glibenclamide (10 microM). In single cells from which recordings were made by the 'perforated patch' (nystatin pipette) technique, metabolic inhibition by 1 mM NaCN and 10 mM 2-deoxy-glucose also evoked a similar glibenclamide-sensitive current. 3. Single K-channel activity was observed in cell-attached patches only infrequently unless the metabolism of the cell was inhibited, whereupon channel activity blocked by glibenclamide was seen; pinacidil applied to the cell evoked similar glibenclamide-sensitive channel activity. If the patch was pulled off the cell to form an isolated inside-out patch, similar glibenclamide-sensitive single-channel currents were observed in the presence of UDP and/or pinacidil to those seen in cell-attached mode; channel conductance was 20 pS (60:130 K-gradient) and openings showed no voltage-dependence and noisy inward currents, typical of the nucleoside diphosphate (NDP) activated K-channel (KNDP) seen previously in rabbit portal vein. 4. Formation of an isolated inside-out patch into an ATP-free solution did not increase the probability of channel opening which declined with time even when some single-channel activity had occurred in the cell-attached mode before detachment. However, application of 1 mM UDP or GDP, but not ATP, to inside-out patches evoked single-channel activity. Application of ATP-free solution to isolated patches, previously exposed to ATP and in which channel activity had been seen, did not evoke channel activity. 5. It is concluded that small conductance K-channels (KNDP) open in smooth muscle cells from this small artery in response to UDP or GDP acting from the inside, or pinacidil acting from the outside; the same channels open during inhibition of metabolism presumably mainly due to the rise in nucleoside diphosphates, but a fall in the ATP concentration on the inside of the channel did not by itself evoke channel activity. Failure to respond to a fall in ATP concentration upon formation of an inside-out patch could not be due to dephosphorylation of the channel because sometimes it had been active previously during cell-attached recording. NDPs, instead of ATP, are more important regulators of KNDP channels. It is suggested that the KNDP is the main target K-channel for KCOs.

Animals↗

Action potential duration and QT interval during pinacidil infusion in isolated rabbit hearts.

INTRODUCTION: Acute myocardial ischemia, which opens K(ATP) channel, is associated with shortened action potential duration (APD) but prolonged QT interval. This discrepancy has not been adequately explained. We hypothesize that the duration of intracellular calcium (Ca(i)) transient (DCaT) may play a role in determining QT interval. METHODS AND RESULTS: We performed simultaneous optical mapping of voltage and Ca(i) in 15 isolated rabbit hearts during a K(ATP) channel opener (pinacidil) infusion. Anterior epicardial mapping (n = 7) showed no difference of APD(90), QT interval, and the DCaT(90) at baseline. When perfused with 80 microM pinacidil, the APD(90), the QT interval, and the DCaT(90) were 105 +/- 10 msec, 199 +/- 14 msec, and 189 +/- 13 msec, respectively, during right ventricular (RV) pacing (P < 0.05). Posterior epicardial mapping (n = 4) showed that the APD(90) was significantly (P < 0.05) shorter than QT interval and DCaT(90) during pinacidil infusion. The results of the transmural mapping studies (n = 4) showed that the QT interval during RV pacing was not different than the DCaT(90) in the epicardium, midmyocardium, and endocardium, but was significantly (P < 0.01) longer than the APD(90) in epicardium, midmyocardium, and endocardium, respectively. There was a good correlation between the DCaT(90) and QT interval at baseline (r = 0.92, P < 0.0001) and during pinacidil infusion (r = 0.74, P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: We conclude that K(ATP) channel opening shortened APD but not the QT interval. Because Ca(i) did not return to diastolic level at the end of action potential, it may have created a heterogeneous membrane potential distribution that determined the QT interval.

Action Potentials↗

Differential relaxant responses to pinacidil of smooth muscle preparations contracted by a high concentration of potassium in isoosmolar and hyperosmolar solutions.

Contractions were produced in guinea-pig trachealis, aorta and pulmonary artery by depolarization with 124 mM K+ using two commonly applied techniques. Addition of KCl to the organ bath solution making it hyperosmolar induced slowly developing contractions, which were only weakly inhibited by pinacidil. Hyperosmolar mannitol-induced contractions showed similar characteristics. In contrast, contractions elicited by isoosmolar K+ Krebs solution developed more rapidly and could be completely suppressed by pinacidil (10(-6)-10(-3) M) in a concentration-dependent manner. The findings explain previously published discrepant results on the relaxant response to pinacidil of smooth muscle preparations contracted by high concentrations of K+, and indicate other mechanisms of action for pinacidil in addition to K+ channel opening, in the concentration range 10(-6)-10(-3) M.

Animals↗

Modulation by the endothelium of the inhibitory effects of pinacidil and nimodipine on endothelin-induced contraction in cerebral arteries.

The effects of pinacidil and nimodipine on endothelin-1-induced contractions in isolated cerebral arteries with and without endothelium were compared. The sensitivity to endothelin-1 was increased (0.5 log units) in the rabbit basilar artery after removal of the endothelium. The nitric oxide synthase inhibitor N omega-nitro-L-arginine (0.1 mM) also increased the sensitivity to endothelin-1 (0.6 log units) in basilar arteries with endothelium, whereas N omega-nitro-D-arginine (0.1 mM) and indomethacin (3 microM) had no effect, indicating that withdrawal of endothelium-derived nitric oxide may account for the enhancement of the endothelin-1-induced contraction after endothelial denudation. Pinacidil (1 microM) shifted the concentration-response curve for endothelin-1 to the right without affecting the maximal response in arteries without endothelium, but had no effect on the endothelin-1-induced contraction in vessels with endothelium. Nimodipine (1 microM) reduced the maximal endothelin-1-induced contraction by approximately 50% in both the presence and absence of endothelium, whereas the sensitivity to endothelin-1 was reduced only in vessels without endothelium. Incubation in "calcium-free" medium reduced the maximal endothelin-1-induced contraction by 69% and 80% in vessels with and without endothelium, respectively. In human pial arteries with endothelium, pinacidil did not affect the endothelin-1-induced contraction, whereas nimodipine and exposure to "calcium-free" solution reduced the maximal response by 31% and 74% respectively. The results show that, in the rabbit, pinacidil and to a lesser extent nimodipine preferentially act on cerebral arteries with disrupted endothelium, indicating that vasoactive factors liberated from the endothelium may modify the effect of a vasodilator.

Animals↗

Effects of nimodipine, Bay K 8644 and pinacidil on alpha 1- and alpha 2-adrenoceptor-mediated vasoconstriction in human hand veins.

The effects of nimodipine, Bay K 8644 and pinacidil, three drugs interfering with transmembrane Ca2+ fluxes in different ways, were investigated in isolated human hand veins. Their ability to influence the concentration-response relationship for noradrenaline (NA) was assessed in the absence and presence of prazosin or rauwolscine. The contractile response to NA was almost abolished in Ca2+ -free medium. Nimodipine and pinacidil depressed the NA concentration-response curve both in the absence and presence of alpha-adrenoceptor blockers. The NA response was only partially inhibited by nimodipine, indicating that NA may activate nimodipine-insensitive influx pathways, presumably receptor-operated calcium channels. Pinacidil inhibited the contractile response to 124 mM K+ and reduced the NA-induced contraction in the presence of nimodipine, suggesting that pinacidil has actions other than the opening of potassium channels and subsequent membrane hyperpolarization. Bay K 8644 increased the NA potency fourfold in the presence of rauwolscine, whereas it had no effect on the NA response in the presence of prazosin and in the absence of alpha-adrenoceptor blockade. Such an action of Bay K 8644 can be reconciled with alpha 1-adrenoceptor activation causing membrane depolarization and opening of potential-operated calcium channels. It may be concluded that both alpha 1- and alpha 2-adrenoceptor-mediated contractions in human hand veins are highly dependent on Ca2+ influx, although the mechanisms utilized to bring about this influx partly differ between the two receptor subtypes.

3-Pyridinecarboxylic acid, 1,4-dihydro-2,6-dimethy↗