Effects of endothelin 3 on diastolic blood pressure of pithed Sprague-Dawley, Wistar Kyoto, and spontaneously hypertensive rats before and after pretreatment with nifedipine.

Pressor actions of endothelin 3 (ET3) were examined in pithed Sprague-Dawley (SD), Wistar-Kyoto (WKY), and spontaneously hypertensive (SH) rats before and after the administration of the calcium channel antagonist, nifedipine. Systolic and diastolic blood pressures were recorded via an intra-arterial catheter from sodium pentobarbital anaesthized rats prior to pithing. The systolic and diastolic blood pressures recorded from SH rats were significantly greater than those of SD and WKY rats; however, after pithing there were no significant differences between the diastolic blood pressures among the various strains. Administration of nifedipine significantly reduced the diastolic blood pressure of pithed rats to an equal extent in all three strains. The infusion of ET3 produced a dose-dependent increase in diastolic blood pressure of SD, WKY, and SH rats, but neither vascular sensitivity nor reactivity to ET3 was altered in SH rats. Nifedipine was more effective at inhibiting the vasoactive actions of ET3 in SD and WKY than in SH rats. It was therefore concluded that the pressor actions of ET3 in SH rats may be less dependent on the influx of calcium through a dihydropyridine-sensitive calcium channel as compared with WKY and SD rats.