Changes of endothelial functions in the coronary artery after chronic nitroarginine feeding.

1. The effects of chronic NG-nitro-L-arginine (LNA) feeding on the endothelial function in isolated coronary arteries from stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP) and normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats were studied. 2. A diet containing LNA (0.02%) was given to male SHRSP and WKY at 6 weeks of age and the coronary arteries were dissected on the 10th day of feeding. 3. In the SHRSP and WKY fed the LNA-free diet, acetylcholine (ACh) relaxed the precontracted ring segments of the coronary artery with intact endothelium in a dose-dependent manner. The reactivity was stronger in the WKY than in the SHRSP. However, the ACh-induced relaxation after the LNA-feeding was significantly stronger in the coronary arteries from the WKY than in those from the SHRSP. 4. The relaxation induced by the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) was endothelium-dependent and endothelium-independent. The degree of the response in the rats fed the LNA-containing diet was not significantly different from that in the rats fed the LNA-free diet. 5. The vasodilator response induced by sodium nitroprusside (SNP) was dose-dependent and similar in the rats fed the LNA containing diet and the LNA-free diet. 6. These findings indicate that chronic LNA feeding markedly impaired the endothelial nitric oxide formation in the coronary artery from young SHRSP.