Cyclooxygenase- and lipoxygenase-dependent relaxation to arachidonic acid in rabbit small mesenteric arteries

• Published in: American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology Vol. 57; no. 1; pp. H302 - H309
• Main Authors: ZHANG, David X, GAUTHIER, Kathryn M, CHAWENGSUB, Yuttana, HOLMES, Blythe B, CAMPBELL, William B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bethesda, MD American Physiological Society 2005
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Chemical compounds; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Nitric oxide; Pulmonary arteries; Vertebrates: cardiovascular system; Prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase; Prostaglandin I2; Enzyme; Arachidonic acid derivatives; Rabbit; Prostaglandin E2; Lagomorpha; Arachidonic acid; endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor; Endothelium; endothelium-derived factors; Relaxation; Vertebrata; Mesenteric artery; Mammalia; Eicosanoid; Oxidoreductases; Circulatory system; Lipoxygenase; trihydroxyeicosatrienoic acid
• ISSN: 0363-6135; 1522-1539

We recently reported that the lipoxygenase product 11,12,15-trihydroxyeicosatrienoic acid (THETA) mediates arachidonic acid (AA)-induced relaxation in the rabbit aorta. This study was designed to determine whether this lipoxygenase metabolite is involved in relaxation responses to AA in rabbit small mesenteric arteries. AA produced potent relaxations in isolated phenylephrine-preconstricted arteries, with a maximal relaxation of 99 plus or minus 0.5% and EC50 of 50 nM. The cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitors indomethacin (10 mM), NS-398 (10 mM, selective for COX-2), and SC-560 (100 nM, selective for COX-1) caused a marked rightward shift of concentration responses to AA. With the use of immunohistochemical analysis, both COX-1 and COX-2 were detected in endothelium and smooth muscle of small mesenteric arteries. Indomethacin-resistant relaxations were further reduced by the lipoxygenase inhibitors cinnamyl-3,4-dihydroxy-cyanocinnamate (CDC; 1 mM), nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA; 1 mM), and ebselen (1 mM). HPLC analysis showed that [14C]AA was metabolized by mesenteric arteries to PGI2, PGE2, THETAs, hydroxyepoxyeicosatrienoic acids (HEETAs), and 15-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (15-HETE). The production of PGI2 and PGE2 was blocked by indomethacin, and the production of THETAs, HEETAs, and 15-HETE was inhibited by CDC and NDGA. Column fractions corresponding to THETAs were further purified, analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, and identified as 11,12,15- and 11,14,15-THETA. PGI2, PGE2, and purified THETA fractions relaxed mesenteric arteries precontracted with phenylephrine. The AA- and THETA-induced relaxations were blocked by high K+ (60 mM). These findings provide functional and biochemical evidence that AA-induced relaxation in rabbit small mesenteric arteries is mediated through both COX and lipoxygenase pathways. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]