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Comparison of agonists-induced contraction between main and the third-order branches of pulmonary arteries in rats

HUANG Qiu-Hong, MU Yun-Ping, YAN Fu-Rong, ZHU Jie-Ling, LIU Xiao-Ru, LIN Mo-Jun

Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology； Lab of Cardiovascular Sciences, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350108, China； Quanzhou Medical College, Quanzhou 362000, China

Abstract

This study was designed to observe the differences between main pulmonary arteries and the third-order branches of pulmonary arteries in the contractile response to phenylephrine (Phen), endothelin-1 (ET-1) and potassium chloride (KCl). The vascular tension changes of main and the third-order branches of pulmonary arteries induced by KCl, ET-1 and Phen were recorded by traditional vascular tone detection methods and microvascular ring technique, respectively. The results showed that Phen could cause a significant contraction in main pulmonary arteries, but did not induce apparent contraction in the third-order branches of pulmonary arteries. Compared with main pulmonary arteries, ET-1 contracted the third-order branches of pulmonary arteries with reduced maximal response value and PD2 value. In comparison with the main pulmonary arteries, contraction caused by KCl was enhanced in the third-order branches of pulmonary arteries. The results suggest that the vascular reactivity of main and the third-order branches of pulmonary arteries is different and it is important to study the vascular function of small branches of pulmonary arteries. This study could provide an important experimental basis for the further study on vascular function of small branches of pulmonary arteries and the functional changes in pulmonary hypertension.

Key words: main pulmonary arteries; the third-order branches of pulmonary arteries ; potassium chloride ; endothelin-1 ; phenylephrine

Received: 2016-06-17　　Accepted: 2016-08-29

Corresponding author: 林默君　　E-mail: mjlin@mail.fjmu.edu.cn

Citing This Article：

HUANG Qiu-Hong, MU Yun-Ping, YAN Fu-Rong, ZHU Jie-Ling, LIU Xiao-Ru, LIN Mo-Jun. Comparison of agonists-induced contraction between main and the third-order branches of pulmonary arteries in rats. Acta Physiol Sin 2017; 69 (1): 1-10 (in Chinese with English abstract).