Effect of vasoconstrictor agents on diacylglycerol content of normal and vasospastic canine basilar arteries in vitro.

A causal or supportive relationship between 1,2-diacylglycerol (DAG) content and the maintenance of tonic vasoconstriction was sought in canine basilar arteries treated in vitro with various agents reported to increase DAG levels in other tissues (platelet-derived growth factor, vasopressin, angiotensin II, and endothelin-1) and, conversely, with agents known to activate sustained constriction (high K+, phorbol ester, hemolysate, and endothelin-1). Multiple segments from individual isolated arteries were prepared. Some segments were immediately frozen as controls and others incubated in physiological saline solution at 37 degrees C for either 5 minutes or 30 minutes in the presence or absence of different concentrations of the test materials. Segments were then quickly frozen until homogenized for lipid extraction and DAG assay. The DAG content of samples incubated up to 2 hours in physiological saline solution alone did not significantly differ from that of immediately frozen control samples. Resting DAG content expressed relative to total protein measured in each sample averaged 3.82 +/- 0.26 (standard error of the mean) pmol DAG/microgram of protein (74 samples from 37 arteries). Endothelin at 2 x 10(-7) mol/L led to a statistically significant increase in DAG content of approximately 40% of basal content at 5 and 30 minutes. A smaller increase in DAG attributable to hemolysate (approximately 25%) was statistically significant at 30 minutes, whereas vasopressin provoked a notable decrease in DAG content. The other agents had no effect. No differences in these results were noted between normal canine basilar arteries and arteries constricted in vivo by subarachnoid blood clot before isolation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)