Effects of Ca2+ antagonists on cardiovascular responses to posterior hypothalamic stimulation in the rat

The effects of methoxyverapamil or hydralazine on pressor responses to posterior hypothalamic stimulation and injected pressor agents were studied in normotensive male Wistar rats. Methoxyverapamil inhibited both phases of pressor responses to hypothalamic stimulation and pressor responses to injected noradrenaline or angiotensin II. Hydralazine inhibited the secondary phase (due to adrenomedullary catecholamine) and not the primary phase (due to increased sympathetic vasomotor activity) of pressor response to hypothalamic stimulation. However, it inhibited the pressor responses to exogenous noradrenaline or angiotensin II. The data indicate that hydralazine is ineffective in inhibiting the pressor response elicited by noradrenaline endogenously released at the sympathetic nerve endings.