TY - JOUR
T1 - Impaired pulmonary artery contractile responses in a rat model of microgravity
T2 - Role of nitric oxide
AU - Nyhan, Daniel
AU - Kim, Soonyul
AU - Dunbar, Stacey
AU - Li, Dechun
AU - Shoukas, Artin
AU - Berkowitz, Dan E.
PY - 2002
Y1 - 2002
N2 - Vascular contractile hyporesponsiveness is an important mechanism underlying orthostatic intolerance after microgravity. Baroreceptor reflexes can modulate both pulmonary resistance and capacitance function and thus cardiac output. We hypothesized, therefore, that pulmonary vasoreactivity is impaired in the hindlimb-unweighted (HLU) rat model of microgravity. Pulmonary artery (PA) contractile responses to phenylephrine (PE) and U-46619 (U4) were significantly decreased in the PAs from HLU vs. control (C) animals. NGnitro-L-arginine methyl ester (10-5 M) enhanced the contractile responses in the PA rings from both C and HLU animals and completely abolished the differential responses to PE and U4 in HLU vs. C animals. Vasorelaxant responses to ACh were significantly enhanced in PA rings from HLU rats compared with C. Moreover, vasorelaxant responses to sodium nitroprusside were also significantly enhanced. Endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and soluble guanlyl cyclase expression were significantly enhanced in PA and lung tissue from HLU rats. In marked contrast, the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase was unchanged in lung tissue. These data support the hypothesis that vascular contractile responsiveness is attenuated in PAs from HLU rats and that this hyporesponsiveness is due at least in part to increased nitric oxide synthase activity resulting from enhanced eNOS expression. These findings may have important implications for blood volume distribution and attenuated stroke volume responses to orthostatic stress after microgravity exposure.
AB - Vascular contractile hyporesponsiveness is an important mechanism underlying orthostatic intolerance after microgravity. Baroreceptor reflexes can modulate both pulmonary resistance and capacitance function and thus cardiac output. We hypothesized, therefore, that pulmonary vasoreactivity is impaired in the hindlimb-unweighted (HLU) rat model of microgravity. Pulmonary artery (PA) contractile responses to phenylephrine (PE) and U-46619 (U4) were significantly decreased in the PAs from HLU vs. control (C) animals. NGnitro-L-arginine methyl ester (10-5 M) enhanced the contractile responses in the PA rings from both C and HLU animals and completely abolished the differential responses to PE and U4 in HLU vs. C animals. Vasorelaxant responses to ACh were significantly enhanced in PA rings from HLU rats compared with C. Moreover, vasorelaxant responses to sodium nitroprusside were also significantly enhanced. Endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and soluble guanlyl cyclase expression were significantly enhanced in PA and lung tissue from HLU rats. In marked contrast, the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase was unchanged in lung tissue. These data support the hypothesis that vascular contractile responsiveness is attenuated in PAs from HLU rats and that this hyporesponsiveness is due at least in part to increased nitric oxide synthase activity resulting from enhanced eNOS expression. These findings may have important implications for blood volume distribution and attenuated stroke volume responses to orthostatic stress after microgravity exposure.
KW - Endothelium
KW - Hindlimb unweighting
KW - Nitric oxide synthase
KW - Orthostatic intolerance
KW - Vasodilation
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U2 - 10.1152/jappl.2002.92.1.33
DO - 10.1152/jappl.2002.92.1.33
M3 - Article
C2 - 11744640
AN - SCOPUS:0036097973
SN - 8750-7587
VL - 92
SP - 33
EP - 40
JO - Journal of applied physiology
JF - Journal of applied physiology
IS - 1
ER -