Nitro compounds (isosorbide dinitrate, 5-isosorbide mononitrate and glyceryl trinitrate) on the femoral vein and femoral artery.

In organ bath studies, the selectivity of isolated femoral vein and artery of rabbit to isosorbide dinitrate (ISDN), 5-isosorbide mononitrate (ISMN), major metabolite of ISDN, and glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) was compared. The femoral vein and artery contracted by norepinephrine were relaxed by all the nitro compounds dose-dependently. Potency order was GTN greater than ISDN greater than ISMN. The maximum inhibitory responses to the nitrocompounds and their pIC50 values (negative logarithms of doses to induce the 50% response) were greater in the femoral vein than in the femoral artery. For ISMN a 3 times greater sensitivity of femoral vein than of femoral artery was found.