The effects of synthetic platelet-activating factor (PAF) on guinea pig lung were examined in isolated lungs perfused with platelet-free Krebs-Ringer solution. When PAF (1 microgram) was injected into the pulmonary artery (PA), it markedly increased airway pressure (maximal increase, 84.7%) and moderately raised PA pressure (maximal increase, 22.8%). The same dose also provoked a massive (29-fold) release of thromboxane B2 (TXB2), the stable metabolite of TXA2, into the perfusate, beginning before the increases in airway and PA pressures. The concentration of 6 keto-PGF1 alpha, the stable metabolite of prostacyclin, also increased (to 5 times control levels) about 70 s after peak release of TXB2. Indomethacin completely blocked TXB2 release, reduced the magnitude of airway pressure increase by 79%, and shortened its duration, as well as the duration of the PA pressure rise. Larger concentrations of PAF (3 and 10 micrograms) produced even greater increments in airway and PA pressures, but these were only moderately attenuated by indomethacin. Also, PAF increased extravascular lung water, as evidenced by increases in wet/dry lung weight and lung/body weight ratios. In a concentration of 0.1 microgram, PAF had no effects on airway or PA pressures, nor did it stimulate TXB2 or 6-keto-PGF1 alpha release. Lyso-PAF was similarly ineffective. We conclude that PAF induces airway constriction, pulmonary hypertension, and pulmonary edema in guinea pig lung independently of platelets. These effects are associated with stimulated synthesis of TXA2, but the mechanisms of their production remain to be determined.

Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), a potent systemic vasodilator, was recently identified in nerve fibers within the pulmonary arterial wall of cats and other mammals. We have investigated the smooth muscle relaxant action of VIP on isolated strips of kitten pulmonary artery that were placed in a 5-ml bath and precontracted with prostaglandin endoperoxide (PGH2) analogue. The action of VIP was compared with that of acetylcholine, isoproterenol, and prostaglandin E1 (PGE1). The effectiveness of VIP as a relaxant of pulmonary artery, measured as maximal relaxation and expressed in weight equivalents, was 29.9 +/- 2.0 X 10(-2) g in the presence of adrenergic and cholinergic blockers, or 28.8 +/- 4.5 X 10(-2) g in the absence of blockers. This relaxation was similar to that of acetylcholine (30.4 +/- 4.0 X 10(-2) g) and isoproterenol (26.4 +/- 2.2 X 10(-2) g), but smaller than that of PGE1 (41.1 +/- 3.7 X 10(-2) g). Judging by the EC50 or EC10 (effective concentration needed to develop 50 or 10%, respectively, of maximal relaxation), VIP was at least 40 times as potent as acetylcholine, 2,770 times as potent as isoproterenol, and 120 times as potent as PGE1, on a molar basis. The effect of VIP was unaltered in the presence of atropine, propranolol, or phenoxybenzamine in the incubation medium. The findings demonstrate the potent relaxant action of VIP in isolated pulmonary arterial strips and the independence of this action from cholinergic and adrenergic receptors. The results support the possibility that VIP may play an important role in regulating pulmonary vascular tone in kittens.

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We investigated the effects of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) in the feline pulmonary vascular bed under conditions of controlled pulmonary blood flow when pulmonary vascular tone was at base-line levels and when vascular resistance was elevated. Under base-line conditions, VIP caused small but significant reductions in lobar arterial pressure without affecting left atrial pressure. Decreases in lobar arterial pressure in response to VIP were greater and were dose related when lobar vascular resistance was increased by intralobar infusion of U 46619, a stable prostaglandin endoperoxide analogue. Acetylcholine and isoproterenol also caused significant decreases in lobar arterial pressure under base-line conditions, and responses to these agents were enhanced when lobar vascular tone was elevated. Moreover, when doses of these agents are expressed in nanomoles, acetylcholine and isoproterenol were more potent than VIP in decreasing lobar arterial pressure. Responses to VIP were longer in duration with a slower onset than were responses to acetylcholine or isoproterenol. Pulmonary vasodilator responses to VIP were unchanged by indomethacin, atropine, or propranolol. The present data demonstrate that VIP has vasodilator activity in the pulmonary vascular bed and that responses are dependent on the existing level of vasoconstrictor tone. These studies indicate that this peptide is less potent than acetylcholine or isoproterenol in dilating the feline pulmonary vascular bed and that responses to VIP are not dependent on a muscarinic or beta-adrenergic mechanism or release of a dilator prostaglandin.

The herbicide paraquat causes lung injury that is believed to be oxygen-radical mediated. To further characterize this injury and explore new methods of preventing it, we used the spin-trapping agent N-tert-butyl-alpha-phenylnitrone (PBN) to identify the paraquat radical in lung tissue and to reduce the injury resulting from the subsequent generation of reactive oxygen species. The formation of a paraquat free radical by guinea pig lung was detected under anaerobic conditions by electron paramagnetic resonance spectrometry. Infused (25, 50, or 100 mg/kg) into guinea pig lungs (perfused at constant flow with Krebs solution containing 4% bovine serum albumin and ventilated with 95% O2-5% CO2), paraquat produced dose-dependent increases in peak airway pressure (Paw), mean pulmonary arterial perfusion pressure (Ppa), and wet-to-dry (W/D) lung weight ratio. At 100 mg/kg, paraquat increased Paw by 589.6 +/- 59.8% (mean +/- SE, n = 8) and W/D ratio from 5.33 +/- 0.07 to 6.29 +/- 0.11 (P less than 0.001). Pulmonary vascular leak index increased from 0.40 +/- 0.09 to 1.96 +/- 0.45 (P less than 0.02), without changes in pulmonary microvascular pressure. Perfusate concentrations of thromboxane B2 and 6-ketoprostaglandin F1 alpha increased, but indomethacin did not reduce the injury. PBN (2.3 mM) markedly attenuated all evidence of lung injury, which was also reduced by catalase, mannitol, ethanol, and vitamin E.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)