Effects of big endothelin-1 in comparison with endothelin-1 on the microvascular blood flow velocity and diameter of rat mesentery in vivo.

Synthetic big endothelin-1 (ET-1), a 39-residue precursor of ET-1, has been reported to elicit potent contractile action on helical strip specimens obtained from the porcine coronary artery, but its molar potency was found to be 140-fold lower than that of ET-1 [Saito, Y., Nakao, K., Mukoyama, M., Imura, H., 1990. Increased plasma endothelin level in patients with essential hypertension. N. Engl. J. Med. 322, 205]. It has been hypothesized that the increased rate of production and/or release of ET-1 from the vascular endothelium may contribute to the pathogenesis of hypertension. However, the effects of big ET-1 in comparison with ET-1 on the macrocirculation and microcirculation of the rat mesentery have not been well documented. Thus, our main purpose for this study was to examine the effects of both big ET-1 and ET-1 to clarify the role of phosphoramidon in inhibiting the conversion of big ET-1 to ET-1, by investigating the systemic blood pressure, microvascular blood flow velocity, and diameters of arterioles and venules of the rat mesentery. For this purpose, two groups of experiments were performed. In these experiments, the mesentery was arranged for in situ intravital microscopic observation under transillumination. In the first group of experiments, intravenous cumulative injections of big ET-1 or ET-1 were infused through a catheter inserted into the right jugular vein. Infusion of big ET-1 (1-8 nmol/kg) elicited a long-lasting significant pressor effect. Infusion of big ET-1 (1-2 nmol/kg) elicited a significant dose-dependent increase in the microvascular blood flow velocity both in arterioles (20-30 microm) and venules (30-40 microm). Microvascular diameters exhibited a slight but significant vasodilator effect. However, the infusion of big ET-1 (4-8 nmol/kg) elicited a dose-dependent significant decrease in the blood flow velocities, and diameters returned to control measurements. The administration of ET-1 (0.25-2 nmol/kg) induced a dose-dependent significant decrease in the blood flow velocity of arterioles and venules, and their diameters exhibited a vasoconstrictive effect more prominent in arterioles than in venules. In the second group of experiments, cumulative injections of phosphoramidon (30 mg/kg/10 min) were administered 10 min prior to the infusion of big ET-1. Phosphoramidon significantly suppressed the long-lasting significant pressor effect and significantly inhibited the dose-dependent increase and dose-dependent decrease in the microvascular blood flow velocity produced by big ET-1 in the rat mesenteric microcirculation. This study observed differences in the effects big ET-1 and ET-1 have on the rat mesenteric microcirculation and proposes a possible mechanism explaining these differences. Moreover, phosphoramidon markedly inhibited the conversion of big ET-1 to ET-1 in the rat mesenteric microcirculation, which may suggest an inhibition of the enzyme which converts big ET-1 to ET-1.