Abstract

Experimental and clinical studies suggest that dihydrotestosterone can be associated with changes in blood pressure. In this work, the effects induced bydihydrotestosterone and dihydrotestosterone-dihydropyrimidine on perfusion pressure and coronary resistance were evaluated, in isolated rat heart using the Langendorff flow model. Additionally, the molecular mechanism involved in the activity exerted by dihydrotestosterone-derivative was characterized. The results showed that dihydrotestosterone-dihydropyrimidine [10^-9 mM] significantly increase the perfusion pressure (p = 0.005) and coronary resistance (p = 0.006) in isolated rat heart. Additionally, the activity exerted by dihydrotestosterone-dihydropyrimidine on perfusion pressure [10⁹ to 10^-4 mM] was blocked in the presence of nefidepine [10^-6 mM]. These data suggest that activity induced by dihydrotestosterone-derivative on perfusion pressure and coronary resistance is dependent upon its chemical structure. This phenomenon possibly involves the L-type calcium channel activation through a non-genomic molecular mechanism.

Key words: Dihydrotestosterone, perfusion pressure, vascular resistance.