Endothelium-dependent dilation of feline cerebral arteries: role of membrane potential and cyclic nucleotides.

The objective of this study was to characterize the role of membrane potential and cyclic nucleotides in endothelium-dependent dilation of cerebral arteries. Middle cerebral arteries isolated from cats were depolarized and constricted in response to serotonin or when subjected to transmural pressures greater than 50 mm Hg. Acetylcholine (ACh) and ADP caused vasodilation and a sustained, dose-dependent hyperpolarization of up to 20 mV in this artery. The membrane potential change preceded the vasodilation by approximately 6 s. Hyperpolarizations and dilations to ACh and ADP did not occur in preparations without endothelium. The hyperpolarizations were abolished by ouabain (10(-5) M), which also blocked the dilator response to ACh. However, dilations to ADP were unaffected by ouabain. Methylene blue (5 x 10(-5) M), a guanylate cyclase inhibitor, had no effect on the responses to ACh or ADP in the presence or absence of ouabain. Cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) levels were not altered in cerebral arteries exposed to ACh or ADP. However, ADP did increase cyclic adenosine monophosphate levels in these blood vessels. We conclude that although membrane hyperpolarizations may be adequate to cause vasodilation, at least one other pathway of endothelium-dependent vasodilation also is present in feline cerebral arteries. Cyclic GMP does not appear to be involved in this alternate pathway of dilation.