Abstract
Summary
The present results, using isolated rat aortic strips and portal vein segments, demonstrate that ethanol (5-430 mM) can both enhance and attenuate the contractile actions of a variety of prostaglandin (PG) compounds on at least two different types of vascular smooth muscle. At the very least, the present findings question the use of ethanol as a solvent when investigating the contractile actions of PG molecules on smooth muscle.
The authors are grateful to both Dr. John E. Pike and Dr. John Babcock of the UpJohn Company for generously providing us with the prostaglandin compounds used in these studies.
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