Influence of lead on rat thoracic aorta contraction and relaxation.

Low levels of lead, but not high levels, produce hypertension. This mystery has not yet been resolved. In this study we compared the in vitro vasoresponsiveness in rat thoracic aorta to low dose (10(-8) mol/L) and high dose (10(-5) mol/L and 10(-4) mol/L) lead acetate. In addition to the direct response to lead, we examined reactivity to norepinephrine, acetylcholine, isoproterenol, phorbol ester, and calcium in the presence and absence of lead. Neither low-dose nor high-dose lead directly affected aortic contractile or relaxant responses. However, lead, only at the highest concentration (10(-4) mol/L), increased the contractions to calcium at all submaximal calcium concentrations. We conclude that low-dose lead must increase blood pressure indirectly through a humoral effect. The reasons for the failure of high-dose lead to influence blood pressure remain to be explored.