Endothelium-dependent vasodilatation in human epicardial coronary arteries: effect of prolonged exposure to glyceryl trinitrate or SIN-1.

Human epicardial coronary arteries were obtained from the hearts of 15 patients who received cardiac transplantation for cardiomyopathy. Transverse strips of these arteries were mounted in organ baths for isometric tension recording. The arteries were constricted with prostaglandin F2 alpha and then exposed to the endothelium-dependent relaxants substance P (1 nM), bradykinin (1 nM-1 microM), and the Ca2+ ionophore A23187 (1 nM-1 microM). The effects of the endothelium-independent relaxants glyceryl trinitrate (1 nM-10 microM) and SIN-1, the active metabolite of molsidomine (1 nM-10 microM), were also tested. In control strips of human coronary arteries, all vasodilators caused concentration-dependent relaxations. Pretreatment of human coronary arteries with glyceryl trinitrate (0.5 mM for 60 min) shifted the concentration-response curve to glyceryl trinitrate to the right by a factor of approximately 800 (increase in EC50 from 10 nM to 8 microM). In contrast, endothelium-dependent relaxations to substance P, bradykinin, and A23187 and relaxations to SIN-1 were not changed significantly. Previous exposure of human coronary arteries to SIN-1 (0.5 mM for 60 min) did not modify relaxations to any of the agents tested. Our results show that (a) the responsiveness to SIN-1 is not modified in nitrate-tolerant strips of human coronary arteries, (b) prolonged exposure of human coronary arteries to SIN-1 does not cause tolerance, and (c) endothelium-dependent relaxations are not influenced by exposure of human coronary arteries to either glyceryl trinitrate or SIN-1.