Effects of a selective endothelin A receptor antagonist, ABT-627, in healthy normotensive anaesthetized rats developing acute pulmonary air embolism.

Acute pulmonary air embolism (APAE) injures the vascular endothelium in the lung and results in pulmonary hypertension (PH). Endothelins (ETs), a family of potent vasoactive peptides, are known to be associated with PH of various aetiologies. We evaluated the effects of ABT-627, a selective ET(A) receptor (ET(A)-R) antagonist in a rat model of APAE over 3 h.