Studies of the vasorelaxant effect of acetate.

Sodium acetate caused dose-dependent relaxation of helical rat tail artery strips constricted by phenylephrine, potassium chloride and arginine vasopressin. Substantial relaxation was evident at acetate concentrations as low as 4 mM. The results suggest that the vasodilatation of acetate is not limited to receptor-dependent or voltage-dependent mechanisms. Acute increases in bath sodium chloride concentration resulted in marked relaxation of vessel strips constricted by phenylephrine and potassium chloride. Arginine vasopressin-constricted strips were quite resistant to the vasorelaxant effect of increased bath sodium chloride.