0000000001064671
AUTHOR
C Pedrós
The relaxant effects of cromakalim (BRL 34915) on human isolated airway smooth muscle
Cromakalim (BRL 34915) is a potassium channel opener with therapeutic potential as a bronchodilator in asthma. Cromakalim (0.1–30 μmol/l) inhibited the spontaneous tone of human isolated bronchi n a concentration-related manner being nearly as effective as isoprenaline or theophylline. The order of relaxant potencies (expressed as -log10 IC50 mol/l; mean ±SEM) was isoprenaline (7.29 ± 0.27; n = 8) > cromakalim (5.89 ± 0.12; n = 7) > theophylline (4.07 ±0.13; n = 10). In human bronchi where tone had been raised by addition of histamine (0.1 mmol/l), acetylcholine (0.1 mmol/l) or leukotriene D4 (LTD4, 0.1 μmol/l), the relaxant effect of cromakalim was substantially reduced. Cromakalim suppres…
EFFECTS OF CROMAKALIM (BRL-34915) IN TRACHEA ISOLATED FROM ACTIVELY SENSITIZED GUINEA-PIGS
Abstract The effects of cromakalim were examined in tracheal strips isolated from normal (unsensitized) guinea-pigs and from animals actively sensitized to bovine serum albumin. Sensitized tracheae exhibited hyper-responsiveness to KCl, acetylcholine and histamine. In normal and sensitized tracheae, cromakalim (0·01–10 μm) produced a concentration-related suppression of spontaneous tone. The ability of cromakalim to relax tracheal strips was reduced when tone was raised by KCl (25 Mm), acetylcholine (0·1 Mm) or histamine (0·1 Mm) and lost against KCl (120 Mm)-induced spasm. Procaine (5 Mm) abolished the relaxant effect of cromakalim whilst tetraethylammonium (8 Mm) was without effect. These…