Relaxing and Contracting Factors

It is an exciting task to be the editor of the first monograph covering a new area of the biomedical sciences. Since the first report in 1980 by Robert Furchgott and colleagues (see Chapter 1) of the evidence of endothelium-dependent relaxation in isolated arteries, there are ever­ increasing numbers of vascular physiologists and pharmacologists who are scraping away the endothelium to look into its role in cardiovascular con­ trol. And the more one looks, the more one discovers. Not only is the list of substances that can induce endothelium-dependent relaxations im­ pressively long, but these intriguing cells can also secrete vasoconstrictor substances. The ability of the endothelium to modulate the degree of con­ traction of the underlying smooth muscle is an ancestral property of the blood vessel wall, illustrating the logic of nature, since the endothelial cells are located in the best possible strategic location to continuously monitor the properties (chemical or physical) of the blood. And more and more data emerge suggesting that in several cardiovascular diseases per­ turbations in endothelium-dependent responses are one of the early signs of the abnormal process. Thus, the importance of endothelium-dependent responses, triggered by the intellectual curiosity of one of the pioneers of vascular physiology and pharmacology, is now recognized not only by basic scientists, but also by all concerned with the cardiovascular diseases. The purpose of this monograph is to provide them with a reference work, so that they know where to start.

1 Endothelium-Dependent Relaxation in Systemic Arteries.- 2 Endothelium-Dependent Contractions in Veins and Arteries.- 3 The Nature of Endothelium-Derived Relaxing Factor.- 4 Metabolism of Arachidonic Acid and Release of Endothelium-Derived Relaxing Factors.- 5 Modulation of the Release and Biological Activity of Endothelium-Derived Relaxing Factor by Oxygen-Derived Free Radicals.- 6 Endothelial Cells in Culture and Production of Endothelium-Derived Relaxing Factor.- 7 Endothelial Cells in Culture and Production of Endothelium-Derived Constricting Factors.- 8 Basal Release of Endothelium-Derived Relaxing Factor.- 9 Calcium Transport Mechanisms in Endothelial Cells Regulating the Synthesis and Release of Endothelium-Derived Relaxing Factor.- 10 Release of Endothelium-Derived Relaxing Factor(s) by Physicochemical Stimuli Eberhard Bassenge, Rudi Busse, and Ulrich Pohl.- 11 Role of Cyclic GMP in Endothelium-Dependent Relaxation of Vascular Smooth Muscle.- 12 Modulation by the Endothelium of Agonist-Induced Contractions of Vascular Smooth Muscle.- 13 Endothelium-Derived Relaxing Factor Relaxes Vascular Smooth Muscle by Cyclic GMP-Mediated Effects on Calcium Movements.- 14 Heterogeneity in Endothelium-Dependent Relaxations: Acute, Chronic, and Evolutionary Modulations.- 15 Endothelium-Dependent Regulation of Resting Levels of Cyclic GMP and Cyclic AMP and Tension in Pulmonary Arteries and Veins.- 16 Endothelium-Dependent Responses of Cerebral Arteries.- 17 Endothelium, Blood Flow, and Vascular Responses in Large Coronary and Iliac Arteries of the Conscious Dog.- 18 Endothelium-Dependent Responses in Large Arteries and in the Microcirculation.- 19 Endothelium-Dependent Responses in the Peripheral Microcirculation.- 20 Endothelium-Dependent Vasodilatation in the Cerebral Microcirculation.- 21 Platelets and Endothelium-Dependent Responses.- 22 Endothelium-Dependent Responses and the Release of Endothelium-Derived Relaxing Factor in Atherosclerotic Blood Vessels.- 23 Endothelium-Dependent Relaxations in Hypertensive Blood Vessels.- 24 Mechanisms of Altered Endothelium-Dependent Responses in Hypertensive Blood Vessels.- 25 Endothelium-Dependent Responses in Human Arteries.