Expression of Prostaglandin H2-Mediated Mechanism of Vascular Contraction in Hypertensive Rats: Relation to Lipoxygenase and Prostacyclin Synthase Activities

We tested the hypothesis that a prostanoid-mediated mechanism of vascular contraction is expressed in rats with aortic coarctation–induced hypertension. Rings of descending thoracic aorta taken from normotensive and hypertensive rats were contrasted in terms of constrictor responsiveness to arachidonic acid (AA), AA-induced release of eicosanoids, and ability to convert exogenous prostaglandin (PG) H2 to PGI2. AA (10 to 10 mol/L) increased isometric tension in aortic rings (bathed in Krebsʼ bicarbonate buffer) of hypertensive but not normotensive rats. AA (10 mol/L) also elicited the release of PGI2, PGE2, thromboxane (TX) A2, and monohydroxyeicosatetraenoic acids (HETEs); this release from the aortic rings of hypertensive rats exceeded the corresponding release from the aortic rings of normotensive rats. However, the rate of conversion of exogenous PGH2 to PGI2 by aortic rings of hypertensive rats was