Extravascular adenosine influences endothelium-derived nitric oxide release from perfused dog semitendinosus artery

Abstract

We tested the hypothesis that extravascular adenosine induces the release of vasodilatory products from endothelial cells lining skeletal muscle vessels. Endothelium-intact (n = 35) and -denuded (n = 5) dog semitendinosus intramuscular arteries were isolated, cannulated, and placed in 100-mL baths containing Krebs-Henseleit bicarbonate buffer (Krebs) at 37°C and gassed with 95% O2- 5% CO2. Each vessel, as well as a parallel tubing segment (avascular control), was perfused at 3.5 ± 0.2 mL/min (inflow pressure 94 ± 2 mmHg; 1 mmHg = 133.3 Pa) with Krebs containing 100 µM phenylephrine, 6% dextran, and 15 units/mL superoxide dismutase. Perfusate from all segments dripped onto endothelium-denuded dog femoral artery rings. The addition of 10 µM acetylcholine to the perfusate to test the functional integrity of endothelium-intact donor segments did not alter resistance in vessel segments or change force in rings. The addition of 100 µM adenosine to the extravascular bath decreased resistance 1.5 ± 0.4 mmHg ·mL-1·min-1in vessel segments but was without effect on downstream rings. When acetylcholine was retested in the presence of extravascular adenosine, a relaxation (16 ± 6%) occurred in rings receiving perfusate from endothelium-intact segments but not endothelium-denuded or tubing segments. This relaxation was eliminated by Nomega-nitro-L-arginine (10 µM), a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, and was attenuated to 4 ± 1% by 8-phenyltheophylline (10 µM), an adenosine receptor antagonist. Thus adenosine, in conjunction with acetylcholine, acting through a receptor-mediated event, resulted in the release of nitric oxide from the endothelium of perfused intramuscular arteries, indicating the potential for extravascular conditions to influence the release of endothelium-derived products.Key words: acetylcholine, adenosine, endothelium-dependent relaxation, nitric oxide, perfused intramuscular artery.