Dependence of smooth muscle tone upon pulsatility in the iliac artery of the anaesthetised pig.

The aim of the study was to examine features of the myogenic response of a conduit artery to the presence and absence of pulsatile pressure. The iliac arteries of 16 anaesthetised pigs (10 in control conditions, 6 under sympathetic blockade) were instrumented with flowmeter, sonomicrometry crystals for diameter measurement, a micro-tip manometer for pressure measurement and snares placed proximally and distally to the crystals to isolate a test segment from the remainder of the arterial system. When the snares were tightened to occlude the test segment, systemic arterial pressure remained constant. There was a large shift in the pressure-diameter relationship, in that there was a rapid decline in test segment pressure for the same diameter. This indicated arterial wall smooth muscle relaxation in response to removal of pulsatility of arterial pressure. The difference in mean pressure between pulsatility present and absent was significant (p < 0.0001, paired t test, n = 10). Before proximal and distal occlusion, test segment pressure was (mean ± SD) 92.26 ± 12.39 mmHg, whereas after distal and proximal occlusion at the same diameter, it was 42.34 ± 10.87 mmHg. We conclude that in the presence of pulsatile pressure, there is a large proportion of arterial wall smooth muscle tone related to stretch of the arterial wall during the cardiac cycle, indicating that, under normal pulsatile pressure conditions, much of the normal tone can be attributed to the pulsatile component of the arterial myogenic response.

Immediate direct peripheral vasoconstriction in response to hyperinsulinemia and metformin in the anesthetized pig.

Elevated levels of insulin have been reported to induce both an arterial vasodilation mediated by nitric oxide (NO), and vasoconstriction mediated by endothelin and reactive oxygen radicals. Metformin, used to control blood glucose levels in type 2 diabetes, has also been shown to cause NO-mediated dilation of conduit arteries. It is possible that these contradictory vascular effects are due to a non-direct action on arteries. Therefore, the direct effect of high levels of insulin and metformin infusion on resistance artery diameter was evaluated. Experiments were carried out on the anesthetized pig; blood flow and pressure were measured in the iliac artery. An adjustable snare was applied to the iliac above the pressure and flow measurement site to induce step decreases (3-4 occlusions at 5 min intervals were performed for each infusion) in blood flow, and hence iliac pressure, and the conductance (deltaflow / deltapressure) calculated. Saline, insulin (20 and 40 mUSP/l/min), and metformin (1 microg/ml/min) were infused separately downstream of the adjustable snare and their effect on arterial conductance assessed. Insulin at both infusion rates and metformin caused a significant reduction in peripheral vascular conductance. In conclusion, hyperinsulinemia and metformin infusion constrict resistance arterial vessels in vivo.

Responses of iliac conduit artery and hindlimb resistance vessels to luminal hyperfructosemia in the anaesthetized pig.

AIMS: High fructose levels are found in diabetes mellitus, associated with high corn syrup diets, and have been claimed to cause hypertension. As the direct effects on conduit and resistance arteries have not been previously reported, we measured these in vivo in the anaesthetized pig with instrumented iliac arteries. METHODS: Experiments were performed on the iliac artery preparation in the anaesthetized pig: blood flow, diameter and pressure were measured in the iliac. RESULTS: The change in diameter of an occluded iliac artery segment filled with hyperfructosemic (15 µm) blood was 89.5 ± 22.1 µm (mean ± SE), contrasted with 7.7 ± 13.06 µm control (P = 0.005, paired t-test, n = 6). There was no significant difference when compared with blood containing both hyperfructosemic blood and the nitric oxide synthesis inhibitor, N(G)-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (250 µg mL(-1)). Step changes in pressure and flow were achieved by progressive arterial stenosis during control saline and 15 µm min(-1) fructose downstream intra-arterial infusions. Linear regression of the step changes in blood pressure versus the instantaneous step changes in blood flow showed a statistically significant decrease in slope of the conductance (P < 0.001, analysis of covariance), indicating an increase in instantaneous peripheral vascular resistance. Peripheral autoregulation and conduit artery shear-stress-mediated dilatation were not significantly altered. CONCLUSION: An elevated level of fructose caused dilatation of a conduit artery but constriction of resistance vessels. The latter effect could account, if maintained long-term, for the hypertension claimed to be due to hyperfuctosemia.

Update on the important new drug target in cardiovascular medicine - the vascular glycocalyx.

We reviewed this subject in 2009, pointing out that, to the process of atherothrombosis, glycocalyx dysfunction and damage must be added to the previous known causitive factors. Glycocalyx dysfunction is possibly the very first step in the process of atherothrombosis, being a protective layer between the endothelial cells and the blood. We emphasise the unique feature of glycocalyx mediated vasodilatation in that it is initiated purely by mechanical changes, i.e., changes in vascular wall shear stress, allowing conduit arteries to adjust diameter to demanded blood flow rate. The predeliction of atheroma to sites of low shear stress, the inhibition of the shear response by lumenal hyperglycaemia, and the fact that the response is mediated by nitric oxide (NO), an anti-atheromatous agent has led to the hypothesis that impairment of this pathway is pro-atherogenic. In the microcirculation it has been shown that the glycocalyx must be added to the factors involved in the Starling hypothesis of tissue fluid generation and exchange. As a consequence glycoalyx dysfunction in hyperglycaemia has been postulated to cause oedema and microalbinuria. We suggested that perhaps the arterial glycocalyx will become the most important for future early prevention of people at risk of cardiovascular disease. The advances in this subject since 2009 are the subject of the present review. What has struck us when searching the literature is that research into the glycocalyx has increased very much and now comes from many disciplines; e.g., diabetes, hypertension, bioengineering, physiology, critical care, cardiology, shock. This update is by no means exhaustive, but hopes, again, to bring to the attention of the pharmaceutical industry, the need for grants in the appropriate experimental models.

Hypothesis: arterial glycocalyx dysfunction is the first step in the atherothrombotic process.

We present evidence that the 0.5 microm thick gel layer, lining the inner wall of healthy blood vessels, the glycocalyx, is the first line of defence against atherothrombotic disease. All blood vessel linings are coated with this gel, a highly negatively charged structure, rich in anionic sites mostly represented by the sialic acid moieties of glycoproteins and the sulphate and carboxyl groups of heparan-sulphate proteoglycans. Blood flow in arteries is associated with a shear stress at the glycocalyx, which signals the underlying endothelial cells to release nitric oxide (NO), an anti-atherogenic factor. Sites of low shear stress in the arterial tree are more susceptible to atheroma due to lack of NO generation through this mechanism, whereas exercise, by increasing blood flow and shear stress, is protective. We postulate that risk factors for atherothrombosis act by impairing glycocalyx function. That luminal hyperglycaemia causes glycocalyx dysfunction has already been shown; we postulate this to be the first step in the atherothrombotic process in patients with diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome (insulin resistance). There is also evidence of glycocalyx defects from exposure to oxidized low-density lipoprotein. We postulate that other risk factors will have a similar action on the glycocalyx as the initiating factor in the disease process, e.g. smoking, hyperlipidaemias and hyperhomocystenaemia. These predictions can now be tested in a large animal model of shear-stress-mediated arterial dilatation.

Dilatation in the femoral vascular bed does not cause retrograde relaxation of the iliac artery in the anaesthetized pig.

AIM: We tested the hypothesis that dilatation of a feeding artery may be elicited by transmission of a signal through the tissue of the arterial wall from a vasodilated peripheral vascular bed. METHODS: In eight pentobarbital anaesthetized pigs, acetylcholine (ACh, an endothelium-dependent vasodilator) was injected intra-arterially above (upstream) and below (downstream) a test segment of the left iliac artery, the diameter of which was measured continuously by sonomicrometry. RESULTS: Under control conditions, ACh injections upstream and downstream of the test segment caused dilatation. Downstream injection dilated the peripheral arterioles, resulting in increased blood flow and proximal dilatation. This is a shear stress, nitric oxide (NO)-dependent response. The experiment was then repeated after applying a stenosis to prevent the increased flow caused by downstream injection of ACh; the stenosis was placed either above the site of diameter measurement to allow retrograde conduction, or below that site to prevent distally injected ACh reaching the measurement site. Under these conditions, downstream injection of ACh had a minimal effect on the shear stress of the test segment with no increase in test segment diameter. This was not due to endothelial damage or dysfunction as injection of ACh upstream still caused a large increase in test segment diameter. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that dilatation of the feeding artery of a vasodilated bed is caused by increased shear stress within the feeding artery and not via a signal transmitted through the arterial wall from below.

The antiplatelet drug target in atherosclerotic diseases.

The aim of this review is (1) to give a rationale for anti-platelet therapy based on mechanisms of platelet rich arterial thrombosis, (2) to point out the pitfalls involved in monitoring therapy with platelet function tests and (3) to outline the potential clinical applications of such therapy based on the various modes of action of anti-platelet drugs. The primary event in arterial thrombosis is platelet-mediated, either due to increased shear or exposed collagen, followed by fibrin-rich thrombosis. Anti-platelet therapy needs to be monitored but most platelet function tests, now in use, do not reflect in vivo function; the anticoagulant used for blood samples removes extra-cellular calcium ions, platelets are often separated before the test, or very high doses of agonist are used: all of these can give misleading results. We review means whereby platelet function can be monitored in whole blood samples anticoagulated with the pure thrombin inhibitor, hirudin. We review the available methods of modifying platelet activity and are particularly interested in agents that do not cause bleeding. Present therapy causes bleeding by interference with COX1, the P2Y(12) receptor or the platelet fibrinogen receptor complex, all of which can be associated with bleeding complications. In contrast, serotonin does not influence formation of haemostatic layers although it is implicated in shear-induced aggregation and thrombus propagation by positive feedback from the large amount of intraplatelet serotonin. We suggest that further investigation of selective serotonin 5HT(2) antagonism would allow effective management of intravascular thrombosis without bleeding complications. This would be safer both as prophylaxis and would also allow cardioprotection of vascular patients undergoing surgical operations.

Differential inhibition by hyperglycaemia of shear stress- but not acetylcholine-mediated dilatation in the iliac artery of the anaesthetized pig.

Clinical hyperglycaemia affects vascular endothelial function, but the effect on shear stress-induced arterial dilatation has not yet been established. We hypothesized that hyperglycaemia would inhibit this response via impaired glycocalyx mechanotransduction. Experiments were carried out in the anaesthetized pig in which pressure, blood flow and diameter of the left iliac artery were measured at two sites: proximal (d1) and distal (d2). Infusion of glucose, sufficient to raise blood glucose to 16-30 mm along the whole length of the artery, attenuated the shear stress-dependent dilatation in both sections of the artery with preservation of the responses to acetylcholine. The distal site was then isolated using snares and the lumen exposed to blood containing 25-35 mm glucose for 20 min. In the control situation, after exposure of both sections to normoglycaemia (5.7 mm glucose), both sections of artery showed increases in diameter in response to shear stress and acetylcholine. Hyperglycaemia attenuated the shear stress-dependent dilatation in the distal section only (P < 0.25), but not the response to acetylcholine. It is concluded from these results that the hyperglycaemia-impaired dilatation is consistent with loss of mechanotransducing properties of the endothelial glycocalyx by hyperglycaemia. These findings offer a possible explanation for the increased incidence of vascular disease in diabetic patients.