Pentobarbital and contraction of vascular smooth muscle

This study, with isolated rat aortic strips and portal veins, was undertaken to : 1) study the effects, if any, of pentobarbital Na (PTB) (5 x 10(-5) to 2 X 10(-3) M) on reactivity to epinephrine, serotonin, and KCl; 2) determine whether certain concentrations of PTB induce direct actions on aortic strips and portal veins; and 3) gain some insight into how these effects are brought about. The results indicate that PTB can: a) inhibit development of spontaneous mechanical activity in these vessels in anesthetic concentrations; b) dose-dependently attenuate contractions induced by epinephrine, serotonin, and KC1; c) cause a noncompetitive type displacement of the dose response curves of these vasoactive agents; d) attenuate Ca2+- induced contractions of potassium-depolarized aortic strips and portal veins concomitant with a dose-dependent displacement of these dose-response curves to the right; and e) rapidly relax drug as well as Ca2+ -induced contractions of aortas and portal veins. In addition, the data indicate that rat portal venous smooth muscle is more sensitive to the inhibitory actions of PTB than rat aortic smooth muscle. Overall, these data suggest that concentrations of PTB used to induce surgical anesthesia can exert profound depressant effects on at least two different types of vascular smooth muscle that may be related to actions on movement and/or translocation of Ca2+.