Vascular Reactivity Pharmacological Study

The following drugs were used in this experiment: N^ω-nitro L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), indomethacin, acetylcholine hydrochloride (ACh), phenylephrine, 1H-(1, 2, 4) oxadiazole (4, 3-alpha) quinoxaline-1-one (ODQ), catalase, baicalein 18 alpha-glycyrrhetinic acid (18α-GA), ouabain, glibenclamide, barium chloride (BaCl₂), and psora-4 [5-(4-Phenylbutoxy)psoralen] (all purchased from Sigma-Aldrich Chemie GmbH, Steinheim, Germany), 17-octadecynoic acid (17-ODYA) and 1-[(2-chlorophenyl) Fdiphenylmethyl]-1H-pyrazole (TRAM-34) (Tocris Bioscience, Bristol, UK), iberiotoxin (IbTX), charybdotoxin (ChTX) and apamin (AnaSpec Inc., Fremont, CA, USA), margatoxin (MgTX), maurotoxin (MTX), α- and β-dendrotoxin (α- and β- DTX) (Alomone Labs, Jerusalem, Israel). indomethacin, ODQ, 17-ODYA, baicalein, glibenclamide and TRAM-34 were dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). DMSO at ≤ 0.2% (v/v) did not influence vascular reactivity to agonists and antagonists tested, as described elsewhere73 (link). 18α-GA was dissolved in chloroform: ethanol (2:3) according to the manufacturer’s instructions and this solvent mixture did not affect the vasoreactivity (personal observation). Apamin, charybdotoxin, iberiotoxin and L-NAME were dissolved in phosphate buffer saline (PBS), whereas all other drugs were dissolved in distilled water.