The release of a non-prostanoid inhibitory factor from rabbit bronchus detected by co-axial bioassay.

1. Methacholine relaxed phenylephrine-contracted aorta of the rat with the endothelium intact. This effect was inhibited by haemoglobin, methylene blue, gossypol, phenidone and L-NG-nitroarginine methyl ester (L-NAME). Rat aorta denuded of endothelium failed to relax in response to methacholine, histamine and the peptidoleukotrienes C4, D4 and E4. 2. Methacholine and histamine but not leukotrienes C4, D4 and E4 relaxed phenylephrine-contracted rat aorta without endothelium when surrounded by rabbit epithelium-intact bronchus. The muscarinic antagonist atropine antagonized the methacholine-induced relaxation. 3. Removal of the epithelium either mechanically or chemically, abolished methacholine-induced relaxation of rat aorta in the co-axial bioassay. These data indicate that the epithelium is responsible for the observed relaxant effect to methacholine and histamine. 4. The cyclo-oxygenase inhibitor, indomethacin, the phospholipase A2 inhibitor, mepacrine and the lipoxygenase inhibitor, nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA), failed to inhibit methacholine-induced relaxation of rat aorta in the co-axial bioassay. This indicates that the epithelium-derived inhibitory factor (EpDIF) is not a product of the cyclo-oxygenase or lipoxygenase pathway or a product derived from activation of phospholipase A2. 5. Haemoglobin, methylene blue, phenidone, gossypol and L-NAME failed to inhibit the relaxation of rat aorta in the co-axial bioassay. These results demonstrate that EpDIF detected in the co-axial bioassay is not endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF) or nitric oxide. Similarly, catalase was without effect. 6. EpDIF is unlikely to be a peptide since papain and alpha-chymotrypsin failed to alter the methacholine-induced relaxation of rat aorta in the co-axial bioassay. Furthermore, thiorphan, captopril and aprotinin were also without effect, suggesting that EpDIF is not a substrate for airway peptidases. 7. The results presented in this paper demonstrate the release of a vasoactive epithelium-derived inhibitory factor (EpDIF) from rabbit intrapulmonary bronchi by use of a co-axial bioassay preparation.