Dirofilaria immitis: heartworm infection converts histamine-induced constriction to endothelium-dependent relaxation in canine pulmonary artery.

Heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) infection alters the behavior of vascular endothelial cells in vivo and in vitro, with the potential, therefore, to influence vascular function. Histamine, an autocoid implicated in the pathogenesis of parasitic and inflammatory diseases, is vasoactive, and causes endothelium-dependent relaxation in some vascular beds. Experiments were designed to determine if histamine is an endothelium-dependent vasodilator in in vitro rings of canine pulmonary artery from heartworm and control dogs; to elucidate the mechanisms involved in histamine vasoactivity; and to measure circulating levels of histamine. Dose-response relationships to histamine were done in rings of canine pulmonary artery from heartworm and control dogs, in the presence and absence of endothelial cells, the H1 receptor blocker tripelennamine, or the H2 receptor blocker cimetidine. Histamine caused a dose-dependent constriction in control, that was not influenced by endothelial cell removal. However, histamine caused an endothelium-dependent relaxation in heartworm pulmonary artery that was converted to constriction by endothelial cell removal. In heartworm, histamine relaxation was mediated by H2 receptors, but did not appear to involve nitric oxide or cyclooxygenase products. While diseases cause depression of endothelium-dependent relaxation, this is the first report of a disease that changes a constriction response to an endothelium-dependent relaxation.