Endothelin-A receptor antagonism promotes decreased vasodilation but has no differential effect on coronary artery compliance in hypertensive patients.

The importance of endothelin-1 in the pathophysiology of essential hypertension is unclear. We therefore examined whether there is a differential effect of endothelin-A antagonism on vasodilation and coronary artery compliance in hypertensive compared to normotensive patients. We examined atherosclerotic non-stenotic arteries from 18 non-diabetic, 10 normotensive patients and eight hypertensive patients, before and after intracoronary infusion of BQ-123 (6 mumol), an endothelin-A receptor antagonist.