L-arginine-related responses to pressure and vasoactive agents in monocrotaline-treated rat pulmonary arteries

To determine whether altered NO production contributes to attenuated distensibility (alpha), vasoreactivity, and acetylcholine (ACh) dilation in pulmonary arteries from monocrotaline (MCT)-treated rats (J.A. Madden, P.A. Keller, R. M. Effrosa, C. Sequitte, J.S. Choy, and A.D. Hacker. J. Appl. Physiol. 76: 1589-1593, 1994), intralobar and sidebranch arteries from rats 21 days after MCT treatment were cannulated and pressurized and their diameter changes in response to KCl, norepinephrine, angiotensin II, and pressure were measured in the presence of N omega-nitro-L-arginine (NLA) and L-arginine. NLA treatment decreased MCT artery diameters more than normal arteries (P < 0.05) and abolished ACh dilation in both. Agonist responses were greater in normal but not MCT arteries. The alpha increased in NLA-treated normal (P < 0.05) but not MCT arteries. After L-arginine, normal and MCT arteries returned to control diameters and dilated to ACh. Agonist responses returned to control in normal but not MCT arteries. Normal but not MCT arteries dilated in calcium-free solution (P < 0.05). These results suggest that pulmonary arteries from rats with MCT-induced pulmonary hypertension produce more NO than do pulmonary arteries; inhibiting NO does not increase contractility; and decreased vasoreactivity and alpha values are not due to smooth muscle cell tone but may be due to abnormal vascular remodeling.