Calcium recruitment in renal vasculature: NE effects on blood flow and cytosolic calcium concentration

This study provides new information about the relative importance of Ca2+ mobilization and entry in the renal vascular response to adrenoceptor activation. We measured renal blood flow (RBF) in Sprague-Dawley rats in vivo using electromagnetic flowmetry. We measured intracellular free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) in isolated afferent arterioles utilizing ratiometric photometry of fura-2 fluorescence. Renal arterial injection of NE produced a transient decrease in RBF. The response was attenuated, in a dose-dependent manner, up to ∼50% by nifedipine, an antagonist of L-type Ca2+ entry channels. Inhibition of Ca2+ mobilization by 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoic acid-8-(diethylamino)octyl ester (TMB-8) inhibited the renal vascular effects of NE in a dose-dependent manner, with maximal blockade of ∼80%. No additional attenuation was observed when nifedipine and TMB-8 were administered together. In microdissected afferent arterioles, norepinephrine (NE; 10−6 M) elicited an immediate square-shaped increase in [Ca2+]i, from 110 to 240 nM. This in vitro response was blocked by nifedipine (10−6 M) and TMB-8 (10−5 M) to a degree similar to that of the in vivo experiments. A nominally calcium-free solution blocked 80–90% of the [Ca2+]iresponse to NE. The increased [Ca2+]ielicited by depolarization with medium containing 50 mM KCl was totally blocked by nifedipine. In contrast, TMB-8 had no effect. Our results indicate that both Ca2+ entry and mobilization play important roles in the renal vascular Ca2+ and contractile response to adrenoceptor activation. The entry and mobilization mechanisms activated by NE may interact. That a calcium-free solution caused a larger inhibition of the NE effects on afferent arterioles than nifedipine suggests more than one Ca2+ entry pathway.