Effects of pinacidil on serotonin-induced contractions and cyclic nucleotide levels in isolated rat aortae: comparison with nitroglycerin, minoxidil, and hydralazine.

Pinacidil is a novel, clinically effective vasodilator used for the treatment of hypertension whose mechanism of action has not been precisely defined. In vitro, pinacidil (ED50 = 0.3 microM) was approximately 30-fold less potent than nitroglycerin and 700-fold more potent than minoxidil or hydralazine in relaxing rat aortic strip preparations. Aortic relaxations produced by nitroglycerin and acetylcholine were dramatically antagonized by methylene blue (10(-5) M), an inhibitor of soluble guanylate cyclase. In contrast, relaxation to hydralazine or minoxidil was unaffected and relaxation to pinacidil was only modestly inhibited (approximately threefold) by methylene blue (10(-5) M). Furthermore, aortic relaxation to pinacidil was similar in preparations with and without an intact endothelium. Relaxation induced by pinacidil (10(-7)-10(-4) M) was not associated with any elevation in either cyclic AMP (cAMP) or cyclic GMP (cGMP) levels in vitro, although nitroglycerin (10(-6) M) but not minoxidil (10(-3) M) or hydralazine (10(-3) M) significantly elevated cGMP levels. Thus, pinacidil was a potent relaxant agonist in vitro, in contrast to minoxidil and hydralazine, which were considerably weaker in this regard. Vascular relaxation produced by pinacidil was independent of an intact endothelium and was not associated with elevations in either cAMP or cGMP. These data are consistent with the proposal that the antihypertensive activity of pinacidil is due to nonspecific arterial vasodilation.