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. 1993 Dec;110(4):1437–1446. doi: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1993.tb13981.x

Mechanism of rat uterine smooth muscle contraction induced by endothelin-1.

H Tsunoda 1, T Miyauchi 1, K Fujita 1, T Kubo 1, K Goto 1
PMCID: PMC2175890  PMID: 8306083

Abstract

1. Endothelin (ET)-1 has been demonstrated to cause contraction of uterine smooth muscle. We investigated the role of ET receptor subtypes (ETA and ETB receptors) in ET-1-induced contraction of rat uterine smooth muscle by using the ETA receptor antagonist BQ-123 and the ETB receptor agonist BQ-3020. 2. ET-1 caused a contraction with superimposed oscillations of the rat isolated uterus suspended in Krebs-Ringer solution; both the amplitude of contraction as well as the oscillation frequency increased in a dose-dependent manner (10(-11)-10(-7)M). 3. BQ-123 (10(-6)M) markedly shifted the dose-response curve of ET-1 for both contractile effects and oscillation frequency to the right. 4. BQ-3020 (10(-11)-3 x 10(-7) M) did not cause uterine contraction; neither did it affect the dose-response curve of ET-1 for either the contractile effect or the increase in oscillation frequency. Thus, stimulation of ETB receptors is not involved in these responses. 5. The present findings suggest that ET-1-induced contractile responses and the increase in oscillation frequency in rat uterine smooth muscle is mediated through ETA receptors, and that ETB receptors play no role in these responses.

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Selected References

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

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