Interaction between superoxide anion and nitric oxide in the regulation of vascular endothelial function

Nitric oxide (NO)‐mediated, endothelium‐dependent vasodilator function in rat aortic smooth muscle was investigated in an in vitro model of endogenous vascular superoxide anion stress, generated by pretreatment with the Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD, EC 1.15.1.1) inhibitor, diethyldithiocarbamate (DETCA). Contraction to noradrenaline (NA, 1 nM–1 μM) in endothelium‐intact vessels was augmented after a 30 min pretreatment with DETCA (10 mM) followed by 30 min washout. This effect was abolished by NG‐nitro‐L‐arginine methyl ester (L‐NAME, 0.3 mM) and removal of the endothelium and partially reversed by exogenous Cu/Zn SOD (200 u ml−1). Endothelium‐ and basal NO‐dependent vasorelaxation to the phosphodiesterase (PDE) type V inhibitor ONO‐1505 (4‐[2‐(2‐hydroxyethoxy)ethylamino]‐2‐(1H‐imidazol‐1‐yl)‐6‐methoxyquinazoline methanesulphonate) (0.1–10 μM) was inhibited after DETCA (10 mM) pretreatment. In addition, the ability of L‐NAME (0.3 mM) to enhance established contractile tone was effectively absent. In contrast, DETCA pretreatment did not significantly affect vasorelaxation to acetylcholine (ACh, 1 nM–3 μM) or S‐nitroso‐N‐acetyl penicillamine (SNAP, 0.03–30 μM). However, L‐NAME (0.3 mM) unmasked an inhibitory effect of DETCA pretreatment on vasorelaxation to SNAP in endothelium‐intact vessels while markedly potentiating vasorelaxation to SNAP in control tissue. L‐NAME (0.3 mM)‐ and exogenous catalase (200 u ml−1)‐sensitive vasorelaxation to exogenous Cu/Zn SOD (200 u ml−1) was greater after DETCA (10 mM) pretreatment in endothelium‐intact aortic rings. This difference was abolished by catalase (200 u ml−1). In conclusion, tissue Cu/Zn SOD inhibition elicited a selective lesion in basal endothelial function in rat isolated aortic smooth muscle, consistent with the inactivation of basal NO by superoxide anion. The resulting leftward shift in nitrovasodilator reactivity, due to the loss of the tonic depression by basal NO, is likely to mask the inhibitory effect of superoxide anion on agonist‐stimulated endothelial function and nitrovasodilator‐derived NO, thereby accounting for the differential pattern of endothelial dysfunction after DETCA pretreatment.