Skip to main content
British Journal of Pharmacology logoLink to British Journal of Pharmacology
. 1990 Jan;99(1):9–10. doi: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1990.tb14643.x

Impairment of pulmonary endothelium-dependent relaxation in patients with Eisenmenger's syndrome.

A T Dinh Xuan 1, T W Higenbottam 1, C Clelland 1, J Pepke-Zaba 1, G Cremona 1, J Wallwork 1
PMCID: PMC1917494  PMID: 2331577

Abstract

A comparison has been made between the endothelium-dependent relaxation of pulmonary arteries (PA) obtained at heart-lung transplantation from 4 patients with Eisenmenger's syndrome and secondary pulmonary hypertension, and PA obtained at lobectomy from 4 patients with lung carcinoma, the controls. All vascular rings were studied immediately after lung excision. PA rings from control patients dose-dependently relaxed to cumulative doses of acetylcholine (ACh, 10(-10) to 10(-5) M), achieving a maximal relaxation of 80 +/- 5% (mean +/- s.e. mean) from precontraction with phenylephrine. By contrast, PA rings from Eisenmenger's syndrome patients achieved a maximal relaxation of only 34 +/- 12% (P less than 0.05, unpaired t test), with even paradoxical contraction at high doses of ACh (10(-6) to 10(-5) M). Sodium nitroprusside (10(-4) M) relaxed all PA rings, with and without endothelium (carefully removed before study), obtained from both control and Eisenmenger's syndrome patients. These results provide the first evidence that endothelium-dependent relaxation of PA mediated by endothelium-derived relaxing factors is impaired in Eisenmenger's syndrome patients with secondary pulmonary hypertension.

Full text

PDF

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Dinh Xuan A. T., Higenbottam T. W., Pepke-Zaba J., Clelland C., Wallwork J. Reduced endothelium-dependent relaxation of cystic fibrosis pulmonary arteries. Eur J Pharmacol. 1989 Apr 25;163(2-3):401–403. doi: 10.1016/0014-2999(89)90217-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Furchgott R. F., Zawadzki J. V. The obligatory role of endothelial cells in the relaxation of arterial smooth muscle by acetylcholine. Nature. 1980 Nov 27;288(5789):373–376. doi: 10.1038/288373a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Greenberg B., Rhoden K., Barnes P. J. Endothelium-dependent relaxation of human pulmonary arteries. Am J Physiol. 1987 Feb;252(2 Pt 2):H434–H438. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.1987.252.2.H434. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Ignarro L. J. Biological actions and properties of endothelium-derived nitric oxide formed and released from artery and vein. Circ Res. 1989 Jul;65(1):1–21. doi: 10.1161/01.res.65.1.1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Ludmer P. L., Selwyn A. P., Shook T. L., Wayne R. R., Mudge G. H., Alexander R. W., Ganz P. Paradoxical vasoconstriction induced by acetylcholine in atherosclerotic coronary arteries. N Engl J Med. 1986 Oct 23;315(17):1046–1051. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198610233151702. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Reitz B. A., Wallwork J. L., Hunt S. A., Pennock J. L., Billingham M. E., Oyer P. E., Stinson E. B., Shumway N. E. Heart-lung transplantation: successful therapy for patients with pulmonary vascular disease. N Engl J Med. 1982 Mar 11;306(10):557–564. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198203113061001. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Thom S., Hughes A., Martin G., Sever P. S. Endothelium-dependent relaxation in isolated human arteries and veins. Clin Sci (Lond) 1987 Nov;73(5):547–552. doi: 10.1042/cs0730547. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. WOOD P. Pulmonary hypertension with special reference to the vasoconstrictive factor. Br Heart J. 1958 Oct;20(4):557–570. doi: 10.1136/hrt.20.4.557. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. WOOD P. The Eisenmenger syndrome or pulmonary hypertension with reversed central shunt. I. Br Med J. 1958 Sep 20;2(5098):701–709. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.5098.701. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Journal of Pharmacology are provided here courtesy of The British Pharmacological Society

RESOURCES