Effect of in vitro administration of captopril on vascular reactivity of rat aorta.

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Abstract
The effect of acute administration of captopril, an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor, on vascular responses of rings of rat aortic smooth muscle was tested in vitro. Dose-response curves for various vasoactive agents were obtained before and after exposure to captopril (2 x 10(-4) M) for 30 minutes. In the presence of captopril, contractile responses to angiotensin I (5 x 10(-10) to 5 x 10(-8) M) were attenuated significantly, probably as a result of decreased local conversion of angiotensin I to angiotensin II. Contractile responses to angiotensin II (10(-11) to 5 x 10(-9) M) were not affected by captopril. All responses to norepinephrine (10(-9) to 10(-4) M) and phenylephrine (10(-8) to 10(-4) M) were attenuated significantly from control in the presence of captopril. In the presence of the alpha-adrenergic antagonist, phentolamine, captopril did not affect either the contractile responses to KCl (30 to 100 mM) or the isoproterenol-induced (10(-8) to 10(-5) M) relaxation of KCl-depolarized tissue. These results suggest that captopril decreased vascular responsiveness to alpha-adrenergic agonists but not to beta-adrenergic agonists. Low concentrations of bradykinin (10(-10) to 10(-8) M) induced contraction in KCl-depolarized tissue while higher concentrations (10(-7) and 10(-6) M) induced relaxation. In the presence of captopril, relaxation occurred at all concentrations of bradykinin (10(-10) to 10(-6) M), probably as a result of decreased degradation of the bradykinin. These data suggest depression of alpha-adrenergic responsiveness in vascular smooth muscle as another potential antihypertensive action of captopril.