Sildenafil augments the beneficial hemodynamic and histopathological effects of amlodipine in nitric oxide-deficient hypertensive rats: Role of nitric oxide–cyclic GMP pathway

The association of erectile dysfunction (ED) with cardiovascular diseases is so common. This study was carried out to investigate possible impact of sildenafil; the prototype phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitor used for treatment of ED, on the beneficial hemodynamic and histopathological effects of the prototype third generation calcium antagonist, amlodipine, in nitric oxide (NO)-deficient hypertensive rats. Hypertension was induced by 4-weeks treatment with Nω-nitro-l-arginine-methyl ester (l-NAME). Animals were allocated into five groups: normal control, hypertensive control, amlodipine-treated group, sildenafil-treated group and combined treatment group. Drug treatment was started 2 weeks after l-NAME and continued together with l-NAME to the end of the treatment period. Systolic blood pressure (SBP), plasma nitrate/nitrite (NOx) and plasma cGMP levels were evaluated at the end of the treatment period. Aortic and renal structural alterations were also investigated. l-NAME treatment caused elevation of SBP, reduction in plasma NOx and cGMP levels as well as adverse histological alterations in the tissues studied. Amlodipine normalized SBP, restored plasma NOx and cGMP levels and ameliorated the adverse histological changes seen in NO-deficient rats. When combined with sildenafil, both hemodynamic and histopathological effects of amlodipine were augmented with an underlying enhanced elevation of both plasma NOx and cGMP levels to statistically higher values than amlodipine alone. These results show that sildenafil augments the beneficial hemodynamic and histopathological effects of amlodipine in NO-deficient hypertensive rats with a pivotal role being played by NO–cGMP pathway. Whether this pharmacodynamic interaction could exist in other models of hypertension that do not share such biochemical derangement warrants further investigations.