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Influence of contractile agonists on the mechanism of endothelium‐dependent relaxation in rat isolated mesenteric artery
Author(s) -
Plane Frances,
Garland Christopher J.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
british journal of pharmacology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.432
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1476-5381
pISSN - 0007-1188
DOI - 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1996.tb15970.x
Subject(s) - acetylcholine , contraction (grammar) , medicine , endocrinology , vasodilation , chemistry , repolarization , muscle contraction , nitric oxide synthase , endothelium derived hyperpolarizing factor , thromboxane a2 , nitric oxide , biology , electrophysiology , platelet
This study demonstrates directly that the relative contribution of nitric oxide (NO) and an NO synthase‐independent repolarization to acetylcholine‐evoked relaxation in rat isolated mesenteric resistance arteries is determined by the processes which mediate pre‐contraction. Noradrenaline‐induced contractions were reversed by acetylcholine via both NO and NO synthase‐independent smooth muscle repolarization. In contrast, reversal of contractions to the thromboxane‐mimetic, U46619, by acetylcholine was entirely mediated by the actions of NO, independently of a change in membrane potential.