Modification by prostaglandins E1 and E2, indomethacin, and arachidonic acid of the vasoconstrictor responses of the isolated perfused rabbit and rat mesenteric arteries to adrenergic stimuli.

In isolated perfused rabbit mesenteric arteries, prostaglandin (PG) E1 and E2, 1-5NG/ML, did not alter the basal perfusion pressure, but reduced the vasoconstrictor responses to sympathetic nerve stimulation; the responses to injected norepinephrine were reduced by PGE1 and variably affected by PGE2. In contrast, in rat mesenteric arteries PGE1 and PGE2, 1-5 ng/ml, potentiated the vasoconstrictor responses to nerve stimulation and to injected norepinephrine. In rabbit mesenteric arteries, the inhibitor of PG synthesis, indomethacin, augmented the responses to sympathetic nerve stimulation and to injected norepinephrine, whereas in rat mesenteric arteries indomethacin inhibited the responses to both adrenergic stimuli. Arachidonic acid, a PG precursor, reduced the vasoconstrictor responses to sympathetic nerve stimulation and to injected norepinephrine in rabbit, whereas in rat, potentiation of the responses to adrenergic stimuli occurred. Since these effects of arachidonic acid were abolished by the simultaneous infusion of indomethacin, they appear to be mediated through conversion of arachidonic acid to PG. We conclude that prostaglandins modulate adrenergic transmission in mesenteric arteries and this effect is species dependent.