Characterization of the vasoconstrictor activity of indomethacin in the mesenteric vascular bed of the cat

The effects of indomethacin on vascular resistance were investigated in the feline mesenteric vascular bed under conditions of constant blood flow. Indomethacin produced mesenteric vasoconstriction that was dose-dependent but was less active than U46619, the thromboxane mimic, angiotensin II, PGF2 alpha and norepinephrine. The vasoconstrictor response to indomethacin was not altered by meclofenamate and phenoxybenzamine. Indomethacin, in a dose that blocked the systemic vasodepressor response to arachidonic acid, did not alter mesenteric vasoconstrictor responses to sympathetic nerve stimulation, norepinephrine, angiotensin II, U46619, and U44069. The present data suggest that in the feline intestinal vascular bed indomethacin has marked vasoconstrictor activity that occurs independent of activation of alpha-adrenoceptors and formation of cyclooxygenase products possessing pressor activity. The present data suggest that cyclooxygenase products do not modulate vasoconstrictor responses as well as the sympathetic nervous system in the intestinal vascular bed of the cat.