Differential contractile responsiveness of isolated rabbit arteries from different vascular beds to cyclooxygenase inhibitors and PGI2

The actions of three, structurally unrelated cyclooxygenase inhibitors and PGI2 on the contractile responses to electrical stimulation and to noradrenaline of strips of rabbit coeliac, ear, pulmonary, carotid, femoral arteries and the aorta were studied. Indomethacin (3 mumol/l), suprofen (0.8 mumol/l) and meclofenamic acid (0.2 mumol/l) potentiated the adrenergically induced contractions of coeliac arteries by 126-165%. The contractile responses of ear arteries were increased by these three substances by 87-91%, and the responses of pulmonary arteries by 26-33%. All of these changes were statistically significant. Prostacyclin produced a dose-related inhibition of the stimulation-induced contractions of the coeliac, ear and pulmonary arteries; its IC50 values were 10.4, 212 and 433 nmol/l, respectively. In contrast to effects in the above arteries, the evoked contractions of aortic and carotid strips were not affected by any of the prostaglandin synthesis inhibitors used; the responses of femoral vessels were reduced by all of the inhibitors (by 13-23%; P less than 0.05). Low concentrations of PGI2 did not affect the evoked contractions of aortic, carotid and femoral strips whereas higher concentrations increased baseline tone and potentiated contractions. The results indicate that there are considerable difference in the sensitivities of the arteries from different vascular beds to inhibitors of cyclooxygenase and to prostacyclin.