Abstract: | Actions of PGE1 and indomethacin on electrically induced vasoconstriction in isolated ear arteries of rabbits were studied. PGE1 (8.5 X 10(-9) M) reduced the vasoconstriction; this inhibition was inversely related to the rate of stimulation. Indomethacin (1.5 X 10(-6) M) potentiated the constrictor responses to nerve stimulation. The degree of this potentiation was also frequency-dependent being greater at low (1 - 2 HZ) than at high (8 - 16 HZ) rate of stimulation. These findings support the view that prostaglandins, in addition to their action on vascular smooth muscle cells, play a functional role in the regulation of tone of the rabbit ear artery by a negative feed-back control of adrenergic neurotransmission. |