Inhibitors of calmodulin impair the constitutive but not the inducible nitric oxide synthase activity in the rat aorta.

The possibility that calmodulin inhibitors impair the constitutive but not the inducible nitric oxide synthase(s)-mediated inhibitions of tone was investigated in the rat aorta. The endothelium-dependent relaxations evoked by acetylcholine, ATP and the calcium ionophore A23187 (which are mediated by the constitutive nitric oxide synthase) were inhibited by calmodulin inhibitors [calmidazolium, W-7 and (N-(6-aminohexyl)-5-chloro-1-naphthalene-sulfonamide, hydrochloride, fendiline] and by an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase, nitro L-arginine. Nitro L-arginine but not calmidazolium reduced the inhibitory influence of the endothelium on the concentration-contraction curves evoked by phenylephrine. Treatment of aortic rings without endothelium with interleukin-1 beta inhibited the contractions to phenylephrine by inducing nitric oxide synthase activity. Nitro L-arginine but not calmidazolium restored the contractility of the aortic rings. The relaxations evoked by a donor of nitric oxide, 3-morpholino-sydnonimine, were minimally affected by calmidazolium and nitro L-arginine. The basal tissue content in, and the production of, guanosine 3',5' cyclic monophosphate evoked by acetylcholine in rings with endothelium were inhibited by calmidazolium and nitro L-arginine. The production of cyclic GMP evoked by interleukin-1 beta in rings without endothelium was inhibited by nitro L-arginine but not by calmidazolium. These observations indicate that calmodulin inhibitors inhibit the constitutive but not the inducible nitric oxide synthase(s) in the rat aorta.