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The sympathetic preganglionic neurons (SPN) in the thoracic spinal cord regulate vasomotor tone via norepinephrine released from sympathetic terminals and adrenal medulla. We assessed the hypothesis that nitric oxide synthase I (NOS I)- and NOS II-derived nitric oxide (NO) in the thoracic spinal cord differentially modulate sympathetic outflow and that the adrenal medulla may be involved in those modulatory actions. In Sprague- Dawley rats, NOS I immunoreactivity was distributed primarily in the perikaryon, proximal dendrites, or axons of SPN, and small clusters of NOS II immunoreactivity impinged mainly on the circumference of SPN. Intrathecal administration of 7-nitroindazole (7-NI), a specific NOS I antagonist, into the thoracic spinal cord significantly reduced arterial pressure, heart rate, and basal or baroreflex-mediated sympathetic vasomotor tone. On the other hand, intrathecal application of S-methylisothiourea (SMT), a specific NOS II antagonist, elevated arterial pressure with a transient reduction of heart rate, induced a surge of plasma norepinephrine, and reduced baroreflex-mediated but not basal sympathetic vasomotor tone. Bilateral adrenalectomy significantly exacerbated the cardiovascular responses to 7-NI but antagonized those to SMT. We conclude that both NOS I and NOS II are present in the thoracic spinal cord and are tonically active under physiological conditions. Furthermore, the endogenous NO generated by NOS I-containing SPN exerts a tonic excitatory action on vasomotor tone mediated by norepinephrine released from the adrenal medulla and sympathetic nerve terminals. On the other hand, NO derived from NOS II exerts a tonic inhibitory action on sympathetic outflow from the SPN that targets primarily the blood vessels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional myocardial blood flows are markedly heterogeneous. Fractal analysis shows strong near-neighbor correlation. In experiments to distinguish control by vascular anatomy vs. local vasomotion, coronary flows were increased in open-chest dogs by stimulating myocardial metabolism (catecholamines + atropine) with and without adenosine. During control states mean left ventricular (LV) myocardial blood flows (microspheres) were 0.5-1 ml·g-1·min-1 and increased to 2-3 ml·g-1·min-1 with catecholamine infusion and to ~4 ml·g-1·min-1 with adenosine (Ado). Flow heterogeneity was similar in all states: relative dispersion (RD + SD/mean) was ~25%, using LV pieces 0.1-0.2% of total. During catecholamine infusion local flows increased in proportion to the mean flows in 45% of the LV, "tracking" closely (increased proportionately to mean flow), while ~40% trended toward the mean. Near-neighbor regional flows remained strongly spatially correlated, with fractal dimension D near 1.2 (Hurst coefficient 0.8). The spatial patterns remain similar at varied levels of metabolic stimulation inferring metabolic dominance. In contrast, adenosine vasodilation increased flows eightfold times control while destroying correlation with the control state. The Ado-induced spatial patterns differed from control but were self-consistent, inferring that with full vasodilation the relaxed arterial anatomy dominates the distribution. We conclude that vascular anatomy governs flow distributions during adenosine vasodilation but that metabolic vasoregulation dominates in normal physiological states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A paradoxical microcirculatory constriction has been observed in hearts of patients with ischemia, secondary to coronary stenosis. Here, using the isolated mouse heart (Langendorff), we examined the mechanism of this response, assuming involvement of nitric oxide (NO) and endothelin-1 (ET-1) systems. Perfusion pressure was maintained at 65 mmHg for 70 mm (protocol 1), or it was reduced to 30 mmHg over two intervals, between the 20- and 40-mm marks (protocol 2) or from the 20-mm mark onward (protocol 3). In protocol 1, coronary resistance (CR) remained steady in untreated heart, whereas it progressively increased during treatment with the NO synthesis inhibitor NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) (2.7-fold) or the ETA antagonist BQ-610 (2.8 fold). The ETB antagonist BQ-788 had instead no effect by itself but curtailed vasoconstriction to BQ-610. In protocol 2, hypotension raised CR by 2.2-fold. This response was blunted by reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavengers (mannitol and superoxide dismutase plus catalase) and was converted into vasodilation by L-NAME, BQ-610, or BQ-788. Restoration of normal pressure was followed by vasodilation and vasoconstriction, respectively, in untreated and treated preparations. In protocol 3, CR progressively increased with hypotension in the absence but not presence of L- NAME or BQ-610. We conclude that the coronary vasculature is normally relaxed by two concerted processes, a direct action of NO and ET-1 curtailing an ETB2-mediated tonic vasoconstriction through ETA activation. The negative feedback mechanism on ETB2 subsides during hypotension, and the ensuing vasoconstriction is ascribed to ET-1 activating ETA and ETB2 and reactive nitrogen oxide species originating from ROS-NO interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do P2X purinergic receptors regulate skeletal muscle blood flow during exercise? Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 286: H633–H639, 2004. First published October 9, 2003; 10.1152/ ajpheart.00572.2003.—Although there is evidence that sympathetic nerves release ATP as a neurotransmitter to produce vasoconstriction via P2X purinergic receptors, the role of these receptors in the regulation of blood flow to exercising skeletal muscle has yet to be determined. We hypothesized that there is tonic P2X receptor-mediated vasoconstriction in exercising skeletal muscle. To test this hypothesis, the effect of P2X receptor blockade on skeletal muscle blood flow was examined in six exercising mongrel dogs. P2X receptor antagonism was accomplished with pyridoxal-phosphate-6-azophenyl-2′4′-disulfonic acid (PPADs). Animals were instrumented chronically with flow probes on the external iliac arteries of both hindlimbs and a catheter in one femoral artery. PPADs (40 rag) was infused as a bolus into the femoral artery catheter during steady-state exercise at 6 miles/h. Intra-arterial infusion of PPADs increased iliac blood flow from 542 ± 55 to 677 ± 69 ml/min (P < 0.05) and iliac vascular conductance from 5.17 ± 0.62 to 6.53 ± 0.80 ml·min−&supl;·mmHg−&supl; The PPADs infusion did not affect blood flow in the contralateral iliac artery. These data support the hypothesis that P2X purinergic receptors produce vasoconstriction in exercising skeletal muscle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]