Effects of catechins on vascular tone in rat thoracic aorta with endothelium.

The effects of eight catechin derivatives on vascular tone in rat thoracic aorta were examined. Catechin derivatives (10 microM) potentiated the contractile response to phenylephrine in endothelium-intact arteries. The potentiations produced by EGCg and EGC were almost absent in endothelium-denuded arteries and abolished by N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester, an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthesis. The catechin derivatives also inhibited endothelium-dependent relaxation in response to acetylcholine. The order of catechin derivatives ranked in terms of both increasing vascular reactivity and impairing endothelium-dependent relaxation was similar; (-)-gallocatechin (GC) >or= (-)-epigallocatechin (EGC) >or= (-)-gallocatechin gallate (GCg) >or= (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg) >or= (-)-catechin (C) >or= (-)-epicatechin (EC) >or= (-)-catechin gallate (Cg) >or= (-)-epicatechin gallate (ECg). In addition, EGC inhibited the endothelium-independent relaxation evoked by both sodium nitroprusside and NOC-7, a spontanous NO releaser, but EGCg inhibited only that by NOC-7. These findings indicate that catechin derivatives produce a potentiation of the contractile response and an inhibition of the vasorelaxant response, probably through inactivation of endothelium-derived nitric oxide (NO), and that the hydroxyl on C-5 of the B ring together with the stereoscopic structure between the C-3 group and the B ring of flavanols was of importance in mediating the above effects and that the substitution of a gallate group of C-3 attenuated the effects, probably due to a decreased response to solube guanylate cyclase in vascular smooth muscle cells.