Nitroglycerin-induced relaxation of anorectal smooth muscle: evidence for apparent lack of tolerance development in the anaesthetized rat.

1. Recent studies indicate that nitroglycerin (NTG) can produce beneficial clinical effects in healing anal fissures through the relaxation of the internal anal sphincter. The in vivo relaxation effects of NTG on the anorectal smooth muscle have not been studied and it is not known whether this tissue may also exhibit pharmacological tolerance toward NTG. 2. We have developed an in vivo procedure in the anaesthetized rat that permits continual monitoring of anorectal pressure after intravenous (i.v.) and intra-rectal application of NTG. The relaxant effects of NTG were quantified via the area-under-the-contraction-waveforms vs time curve (AUEC). 3. AUEC decreased significantly after intra-rectal bolus doses of NTG (5 - 25 microg), in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Sustained relaxation effects on anorectal pressure were also observed after continuous intra-rectal infusions of NTG. 4. Two-hours of i.v. NTG infusion led to a significant reduction in the mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) response toward a i.v. NTG (30 microg) bolus challenge. In contrast, relaxation of the anorectal pressure toward the challenge dose was not altered after NTG infusion. 5. In isolated tissues, cyclic GMP accumulation was significantly decreased after NTG pre-incubation in the rat aorta but not in the rat anorectal smooth muscle and anal sphincter. 6. These results indicate that the relaxation response toward NTG was not diminished in the anorectum under conditions that produced vascular tolerance. Thus, NTG causes significant and sustained in vivo relaxation of anorectal smooth muscle in the anaesthetized rat without evidence of tolerance development.

Endogenous nitric oxide in expired air: effects of acute exercise in humans.

Nitric oxide (NO) is present in the exhaled breath of humans and experimental animals, but its physiologic role and cellular source(s) remain to be determined. Possible sites of origin are pulmonary endothelial cells and/or resident macrophages. Here we have tested the hypothesis that changes in cardiovascular status can alter the apparent pulmonary excretion of NO. Exercise on a stationary bicycle produced rapid and reversible increases in pulmonary NO excretion rate, and changes in NO excretion rate during exercise were well correlated with observed changes in heart rate. These results suggest that changes in expired NO during exercise are related to corresponding cardiovascular responses.

Effect of heparin on bilirubin clearance in rats: pharmacokinetic consequences of extensive hepatic extraction of plasma protein binding inhibitors.

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effect of heparin-induced endogenous inhibitors of plasma protein binding on the plasma concentrations of total (free plus bound) and free bilirubin in rats with experimental hyperbilirubinemia. Adult male rats received constant-rate intravenous infusions of bilirubin and, after attaining steady state, were given either an intravenous injection of heparin, 500 units/kg, or this injection plus a maintenance infusion of hepatin. Control animals received normal saline solution instead of heparin. The free fraction of bilirubin in plasma increased substantially within 2 min after heparin injection and remained elevated when heparin concentrations were sustained by infusion of the anticoagulant. Despite the decreased plasma protein binding of bilirubin, the plasma concentration of total bilirubin did not decrease (as it does, consistent with pharmacokinetic theory, following injection or infusion of certain other inhibitors of bilirubin binding) and the plasma concentration of free bilirubin did not return to normal (as observed previously after administration of other binding inhibitors) but remained elevated. These results are consistent with the recently demonstrated rapid and extensive hepatic extraction of heparin-induced endogenous inhibitors of plasma protein binding. The heparin interaction with bilirubin may be particularly serious because of the sustained elevation of free bilirubin concentrations in plasma and the potential neurotoxicity of free bilirubin.

Inhibition of drug metabolism by hydroxylated metabolites: cross-inhibition and specificity.

Inhibition of drug metabolism was studied in adult male Sprague-Dawley rats. A hydroxylated metabolite of phenylbutazone (oxyphenbutazone) inhibited the elimination of phenytoin, which is metabolized by oxidative pathways. The biotransformation of a relatively polar and only slightly plasma protein-bound drug, antipyrine, was subject to product inhibition by a hydroxylated metabolite, 4-hydroxyantipyrine. Neither oxyphenbutazone nor 4-hydroxyantipyrine measurably affected the elimination kinetics or metabolic fate of a drug (sulfanilamide) that is not metabolized by oxidative pathways.

Pharmacokinetics of acetaminophen in the human neonate: formation of acetaminophen glucuronide and sulfate in relation to plasma bilirubin concentration and D-glucaric acid excretion.

The purpose of this study was to determine if certain physiologic parameters (plasma bilirubin concentration and urinary excretion rate of D-glucaric acid) can be used to predict a newborn infant's ability to eliminate a phenolic drug, and particularly to predict the ability to conjugate that drug with glucuronic acid. Tweleve healthy 2- to 3-day-old full-term infants with plasma bilirubin concentrations of 1.0 to 11.6 mg/100 ml and D-glucaric acid excretion rates of 0.131 to 0.345 mg/kg/day received a single oral dose of acetaminophen, 12 mg/kg. Urine was collected serially for 48 hours and analyzed for acetaminophen, acetaminophen glucuronide, acetaminophen sulfate, and D-glucaric acid. The biologic half-life of acetaminophen was 3.5 plus or minus 0.85 hours (average plus or minus SD) as compared to average values of 1.9 to 2.2 hours observed in five reported studies on a total of 39 adults. The rate constant for acetaminophen glucuronide formation in neonates was considerably smaller, on the average, than in adults but the average rate constant for acetaminophen sulfate formation was somewhat larger than in adults. There is not statistically significant colucaric acid excretion. The results of this study suggest that the limited ability of neonates to conjugate phenolic drugs with glucuronic acid is compensated to a degree by a well-developed capability for sulfate conjugation.

Inhibition by ice cream of the antidotal efficacy of activated charcoal.

A study was conducted to determine if ice cream and sherbet interfered with the adsorption of aspirin onto activated charcoal both in vivo and in vitro. An aqueous suspension of 20 g activated charcoal decreased the absorption of 1 g aspirin by 65%; the same dose of activated charcoal with 50 g of ice cream reduced aspirin absorption by only 42% under otherwise identical conditions. In vitro tests showed that different ice creams and sherbet decrease the adsoprtion of aspirin onto activated charcoal. Thus, although ice cream is useful for preparing palatable suspensions of activated charcoal, it decreases appreciably the antidotal efficacy of the adsorbent.