Alpha-adrenergic reactivity of the microcirculation in conscious spontaneously hypertensive rats

Autor: H A, Struijker-Boudier, M W, Messing, H, van Essen
Rok vydání: 1996
Předmět:
Zdroj: Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry. 157:239-244
ISSN: 1573-4919
0300-8177
DOI: 10.1007/bf00227905
Popis: The goal of this study was to determine the functional distribution of alpha 1- and alpha 2-adrenoceptors in the striated muscle microcirculation. Experiments were performed in intact conscious spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) that were provided with a dorsal microcirculatory chamber to allow microvascular diameter measurements. Administration of selective alpha 1- and alpha 2-agonists, phenylephrine and azepexole, respectively, induced different patterns of microvascular constriction. alpha 1-Adrenoceptor stimulation showed a preferential constriction of large arteries and venules. The entire arteriolar microvasculature was sensitive to alpha 2-adrenoceptor stimulation, whereas the venular vessels did not respond to azepexole. The selective alpha 1- and alpha 2-antagonists prazosin and yohimbine showed patterns of vasodilator activity comparable to those of the corresponding agonists. The specificity of the drug-induced effects was verified by comparing their effects with those of graded hemorrhage, a non-pharmacological method for blood pressure lowering. In the range of blood pressure decreases comparable to that obtained by alpha-adrenoceptor antagonists, graded hemorrhage did not influence microvascular diameters. These results show a differential functional distribution of alpha 1- and alpha 2-adrenoceptors along the microvascular tree in striated muscle of conscious SHR.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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