Elevated Contractile Responses to Acetylcholine in Organ Cultured Rabbit Carotid Artery.
10.3349/ymj.2006.47.2.249
- Author:
Youngho LEE
1
;
Seungsoo JUNG
;
Jong Eun WON
;
Taiksang NAM
;
Ducksun AHN
Author Information
1. Department of Physiology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. dsahn@yumc.yonsei.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Organ culture;
carotid artery;
acetylcholine;
N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester;
Ca2+ regulation
- MeSH:
Time Factors;
Rabbits;
Organ Culture Techniques/*methods;
Nitroprusside/pharmacology;
NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester/metabolism/pharmacology;
*Muscle Contraction;
Models, Statistical;
Dose-Response Relationship, Drug;
Culture Media, Serum-Free/metabolism;
Carotid Arteries/*drug effects/metabolism/*pathology;
Calcium/metabolism;
Animals;
Acetylcholine/*pharmacology
- From:Yonsei Medical Journal
2006;47(2):249-254
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
The aim of the present study was to examine the functional changes that occur when a rabbit carotid artery is cultured in serum-free medium. In endothelium (EC)-intact arteries cultured under serum-free conditions, acetylcholine (ACh)-induced relaxation responses were partially, yet significantly, reduced when compared with freshly isolated arteries. After pretreatment with N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, application of ACh resulted in a significant contraction in organ cultured arteries. The amplitude of the ACh-induced contractions increased with the duration of culture. In EC-denuded arteries cultured under serum-free conditions, ACh induced responses similar to those in EC-intact arteries pretreated with L-NAME. Furthermore, ACh caused a significant increase in intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) in EC-denuded arteries cultured under serum-free condition for 7 days. There was little change in either [Ca2+]i or tension in freshly isolated carotid rings. There was no difference in sodium nitroprusside-induced relaxation responses between fresh and cultured arteries. These results suggest that prolonged culture of carotid arteries under serum-free conditions changes the functional properties of vascular reactivity in rabbit carotid arteries.
