Catecholamine-mediated constrictor effects of aldosterone on vascular smooth muscle

The possibility that the corticosteroid hormone, aldosterone, might possess direct vasoconstrictor properties was examined in the isolated central ear artery of the New Zealand white rabbit. Aldosterone alone produced only minimal contractile effects in the arterial segments; but following pretreatment of the tissue with desipramine (10−7M), a blocker of neuronal uptake of norepinephrine, aldosterone concentrations of 10−6M, 10−5M, and 10−4M produced stepwise contractile responses of 0.16 ± 0.03 (SE)g, 0.48 ± .04g, and 1.31 ± 0.06g. The possible involvement of norepinephrine in this action of aldosterone was tested in a series of tissues stored for 2 days at 2°C in Krebsbicarbonate medium so as to deplete endogenous catecholamine stores. Treatment with desipramine followed by aldosterone (10−4M) now produced an average contraction of only 0.1 ± 0.06g; but if the labile neuronal tissue stores of norepinephrine in these tissues were then replenished by exposure to norepinephrine 10−7M, contractions of 1.2 ± 0.3g now occurred when desipramine and aldosterone were added. To examine whether aldosterone's action might be due to blockade of extraneuronal norepinephrine uptake (uptake-2), 3H-norepinephrine was added to ear artery tissues exposed to desipramine with or without aldosterone: a significant (P<0.005) decrease of 25% in 3H-norepinephrine uptake occurred in the tissues treated with aldosterone. In further studies, the contractile effects of aldosterone could be prevented by pretreatment with prazosin (10−7M) or phentolamine (10−7M); if added after the aldosterone, each of these alpha-blockers completely reversed the contractile responses. Although the physiological relevance of these findings is yet to be fully defined, these studies indicate that the in vitro contractile effects of aldosterone are dependent upon its inhibition of extraneuronal uptake of endogenous norepinephrine; it is likely that the resulting increase in extracellular norepinephrine concentration then produces vasoconstriction by stimulation of post-synaptic alpha-adrenergic receptors.