Effects of sulfhydryl reagents on nitroglycerin-induced relaxation of bovine coronary artery
The mechanism whereby nitroglycerin relaxes vascular smooth muscle remains uncertain. A current hypothesis suggests that nitroglycerin reacts with critical cellular sulfhydryl groups to form an intermediate, which activates guanylate cyclase, resulting in cGMP accumulation and relaxation. This study investigated further the potential involvement of sulfhydryls in nitroglycerin-induced vascular smooth muscle relaxation by evaluating effects of a variety of sulfhydryl alkylating and reducing agents on responses to nitroglycerin and other relaxants in bovine coronary arterial strips submaximally contracted using 30 mM K. Whereas 10−4 M 5,5′-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoicacid), 10−5M N-ethylmaleimide, and 10−4M N-naphthylmaleimide did not affect nitroglycerin-induced relaxation, 10−4 M N-ethylmaleimide and 10−4 M ethacrynic acid significantly inhibited relaxation induced by nitroglycerin. Both ethacrynic acid and N-ethylmaleimide at 10−4 M also inhibited relaxation induced by sodium nitroprus-side. N-ethylmaleimide, but not ethacrynic acid, inhibited relaxation induced by isoproterenol and forskolin. Ethacrynic acid significantly reduced both relaxation and cGMP elevation induced by both 10−7 M nitroglycerin and 10−7 M sodium nitroprusside. Ethacrynic acid, but not N-ethylmaleimide, significantly reduced relaxation induced by 8-Br-cGMP. Pretreatment with the sulfhydryl-containing agents N-acetylcysteine, 2-mercaptoethanol, or dithiothreitol, at 10−3 M did not affect nitroglycerin-induced relaxation in nontolerant arteries. Similarly, N-acetylcysteine and dithiothreitol did not alter the depressed responses to nitroglycerin in arteries in which tolerance to nitroglycerin was induced in vitro. A slight but statistically significant reversal of nitroglycerin-tolerance occurred after treatment of tolerant arteries with 2-mercaptoethanol. As none of the sulfhydryl alkylating agents tested inhibited selectively nitroglycerin-induced relaxation, and none of the sulfhydryl-containing agents markedly enhanced nitroglycerin-induced relaxation in either nontolerant or tolerant arteries, the results provide little evidence to support the hypothesis that critical sulfhydryl groups are involved specifically in nitroglycerin-induced relaxation of arterial smooth muscle. The results do suggest that ethacrynic acid may selectively inhibit relaxation induced in bovine coronary artery by relaxants that act by activating guanylate cyclase, and that the inhibition by ethacrynic acid may involve two mechanisms, an inhibition of guanylate cyclase activation and an inhibition of the relaxant effect of cGMP.