Pulmonary vasodilator responses to nitroprusside and nitroglycerin in the dog.

The objective of this study was to determine the direct actions of nitroprusside and nitroglycerin on the pulmonary vascular bed in the intactchest dog. These widely used nitrogen oxide-containing vasodilator agents decreased pulmonary arterial pressure and increased cardiac output without altering left atrial pressure. Reductions in pulmonary arterial pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance were small under resting conditions, but were enhanced when pulmonary vascular tone was elevated by infusion of a stable prostaglandin analog that increases pulmonary vascular resistance by constricting intrapulmonary veins and upstream segments. In studies in which pulmonary blood flow to the left lower lobe was maintained constant, nitroprusside and nitroglycerin caused small but significant reductions in lobar arterial and small-vein pressures without significantly affecting left atrial pressure. With constant blood flow, lobar vascular pressures that were reduced in response to the vasodilators were more greatly reduced when lobar vascular resistance was increased by infusion of the prostaglandin analog or serotonin. However, when lobar vascular pressures were elevated by passive obstruction of lobar venous outflow, vasodilator responses to nitroprusside and nitroglycerin were not enhanced. These data suggest that nitroprusside and nitroglycerin decrease pulmonary vascular resistance by dilating intrapulmonary veins and upstream segments. These responses were minimal under control conditions but were enhanced when vascular tone was increased. This vasodilator action is independent of passive factors such as changes in pulmonary blood flow or left atrial pressure and is not secondary to an effect of these agents on the systemic circulation. Pulmonary vasodilator responses to nitroprusside and nitroglycerin were, however, found to be dependent on the existing level of vasomotor tone in the pulmonary vascular bed.