Effect of sevoflurane on the vascular reactivity of rabbit mesenteric artery

Sevoflurane is well known to cause depression of cardiovascular function, but detailed information on its actions on the contractility and reactivity of blood vessels is lacking. We have assessed therefore the direct effect of this anaesthetic on the functional reactivity of isolated rabbit mesenteric artery ring preparations. We found that contractions of endothelium intact rings induced by noradrenaline and phenylephrine were significantly attenuated by 4% sevoflurane; the observation that the maximal tension generation decreased without a significant reduction in pD2 is consistent with the view that receptor dysfunction was not involved. The effect of sevoflurane was not affected by NG-monomethyl-L-arginine. Sevoflurane 4% also produced attenuation of noradrenaline-induced contractions of endothelium denuded ring preparations. The contractions of endothelium denuded ring preparations produced by noradrenaline in Ca(2+)-free media in the presence of K+ were not affected by 4% sevoflurane, but sevoflurane depressed external Ca(2+)-dependent contractions. When vasodilators (acetylcholine and nitroglycerin) were added to the bathing media in the presence of 2% sevoflurane, the endothelium-dependent relaxation produced by acetylcholine, but not the endothelium-independent relaxation produced by nitroglycerin, was attenuated; superoxide dismutase inhibited the effect of sevoflurane on endothelium-dependent relaxation. These results are consistent with the view that sevoflurane inhibits alpha adrenoceptor-mediated contractions of isolated rabbit mesenteric artery ring preparations; this effect may be caused by reduced Ca2+ influx, as estimated from the effect on external Ca(2+)-dependent contractions, but is unlikely to be caused by reduced Ca2+ release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum of vascular smooth muscle, as estimated from noradrenaline-induced contractions in Ca(2+)-free bathing media.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)