Evidence for Des-Tyr1-D-Ala2-leucine5-enkephalinamide calcium agonist activity in vascular smooth muscle

Intravenous administration of the enkephalin analog Des-Tyr1-D-Ala2-Leu5-enkephalinamide (DTALE) to conscious dogs produces a pressor response that is not inhibited by naloxone. In an attempt to explain this observed pressor activity in vivo, the effect of DTALE on vascular smooth muscle was investigated in vitro. DTALE was found to contract rat thoracic aorta strips in a dose-dependent and naloxone-insensitive manner. Pretreatment with reserpine (5 mg/kg) or prazosin was without significant effect. However, a significant inhibition was obtained with cyproheptadine (p less than 0.001, n = 5), a 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) receptor antagonist that also has calcium channel blocking activity. Treatment with ketanserin (0.1 microM), a selective 5-HT2-receptor antagonist, had no effect. Reduction of the extracellular calcium concentration from 1.6 to 1.2 mM or 0.8 mM significantly diminished DTALE activity (1.2 mM, p less than 0.025; 0.8 mM, p less than 0.01; n = 3). Pretreatment with the calcium channel antagonists verapamil (0.1 microM) and nitrendipine (0.05 microM) significantly inhibited DTALE activity (p less than 0.001 for both treatments). DTALE also exhibited increased potency in partially depolarized smooth muscle preparations. These results suggest that DTALE may produce vasoconstriction by inducing or facilitating calcium influx. This activity upon arterial vascular strips may provide explanation for the observed pressor response in chronically instrumented conscious dogs.