Role of Ba2+-resistant K+ channels in endothelium-dependent hyperpolarization of rat small mesenteric arteries

Effects of ajmaline on contraction patterns of isolated rat gastric antrum and portal vein smooth muscle strips and on neurogenic relaxations of gastric fundus

Class-I-antiarrhythmics like ajmaline are known to alter smooth muscle function, which may cause alterations in gastrointestinal motility. The effects of ajmaline on isolated gastric and portal vein smooth muscle and the underlying mechanisms are unknown. We studied the effects of ajmaline on the contractile patterns of isolated preparations of gastric antrum and portal vein from Wistar rats. The organ bath technique was used to measure spontaneous or pharmacologically induced isometric contractions. Changes in force observed after application of ajmaline or under control conditions are reported as % of the amplitude of an initial K⁺-induced contraction. Electric field stimulation was used to study neurogenic relaxations of gastric fundus smooth muscle. Ajmaline increased the amplitude of spontaneous contractions of muscle strips (portal vein: control 31.1 ± 15.2%, with 100 μM ajmaline 76.6 ± 32.3%, n = 9, p < 0.01; gastric antrum: control 9.5 ± 1.6%, with 100 μM ajmaline 63.9 ± 9.96%, n = 14, p < 0.01). The frequency of spontaneous activity was reduced in portal vein, but not in gastric antrum strips. The effects of ajmaline were not blocked by tetrodotoxin, L-nitroarginine methyl ester, or atropine. Ajmaline abolished coordinated neurogenic relaxations triggered by electric field stimulation and partly reversed the inhibition of GA spontaneous activity caused by the gap junction blocker carbenoxolone. Ajmaline enhances the amplitude of spontaneous contractions in rat gastric and portal vein smooth muscle. This effect may be accompanied, but not caused by an inhibition of enteric neurotransmission. Enhanced syncytial coupling as indicated by its ability to antagonize the effects of carbenoxolone is likely to underlie the enhancement of contractility.

Methanandamide hyperpolarizes gastric arteries by stimulation of TRPV1 receptors on perivascular CGRP containing nerves

Endogenous as well as synthetic cannabinoids have potent vasodilatory actions in a variety of vascular preparations. Their precise mechanism of action is as yet unclear, but several studies point to the activation of type 1 vanilloid (TRPV1) receptors on primary afferent perivascular nerves, stimulating the release of calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP). Given the documented gastroprotective function of these nerves, and the various gastrointestinal effects reported for cannabinoids, we explored a possible link between these systems in the gastric circulation by comparing responses of small gastric arteries to cannabinoids and to calcitonin gene related peptide using conventional microelectrode techniques. Exposure of small gastric arteries to the stable endocannabinoid analogue methanandamide caused a hyperpolarization of the vascular smooth muscle cells, which was completely abolished by the vanilloid receptor antagonist capsazepine (P < 0.01). Exposure to exogenous calcitonin gene related peptide evoked fully reproducible (P > 0.05) hyperpolarizations with similar time course, unaffected by capsazepine. Preincubation with glibenclamide, an inhibitor of ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channels, reversed both responses to methanandamide (P < 0.01) and calcitonin gene related peptide (P < 0.05). Similar results were found in rat mesenteric arteries. These findings show that cannabinoids stimulate TRPV1 receptors, presumably causing the release of calcitonin gene related peptide, which hyperpolarizes the smooth muscle cells by activation of KATP channels. Because membrane hyperpolarization is a powerful mediator of vasorelaxation, this novel pathway might prove to be an important mechanism affording gastroprotection.