Involvement of the sugar moiety in the inhibitory action of the cardiac glycosides on the palytoxin-induced responses in vascular smooth muscles.

The effects of ouabain and other cardiotonic steroids were examined to investigate whether changes in Na,K-adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) activity modified the actions of palytoxin (PTX) in rabbit aortic vascular smooth muscle. The effects of these agents on rabbit aorta were compared with those on rat aorta, as it is known that the concentration of cardiac glycosides required to inhibit Na,K-ATPase of rat aorta is markedly higher than that of other species. PTX induced contraction in rabbit and rat aortas in a similar concentration range (10(-11) to 10(-8) M). PTX rapidly decreased tissue K content of these preparations. Ouabain (2 X 10(-5) M) inhibited both the contraction and the loss of tissue K in rabbit aorta but not in rat aorta. In rabbit aorta, convallatoxin (2 X 10(-5) M), which has one rhamnose as a sugar moiety like ouabain, and cymarin (2 X 10(-5) M), which has one cymarose, inhibited the PTX-induced contraction and the loss of tissue K, although ouabagenin, convallatoxigenin and cymarigenin (strophanthidin) (2 X 10(-5) M) did not. Other cardiotonic steroids, digoxin and digitoxin, which have 3 U of digitoxose as a sugar component, or the corresponding aglycones failed to inhibit the PTX-responses. On the other hand, all the cardiotonic steroids at concentration of 2 X 10(-5) M equally inhibited the reuptake of K and relaxation of norepinephrine-induced contractions induced by the readdition of K. Inhibition of Na-K pump by K-free solution potentiated rather than inhibited the PTX-induced contraction. These results suggest that the specific sugar moiety of cardiac glycosides is important for the inhibitory effect exerted by these compounds on the PTX-induced responses and that the inhibition is not related to the activity of the Na,K-ATPase.