title: Alteration of microvascular responses to serotonin in the diabetic rat.
abstract: This study examined the microvascular response to serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) in short-term streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. 5-HT was applied topically to the neurovascularly intact and environmentally controlled cremaster muscle of the two-week diabetic rat. Intravital microscopy was used to measure the diameters of large arterioles (First-order; A1) and small arterioles (Third-order; A3), and the FITC-albumin leakage in small venules (Third-order; V3). The diabetic animals were divided into two groups based on the dilator capacity of the A3 arterioles: the Diabetic-Tone group had a dilator capacity of 98 +/- 14.5% compared to 11 +/- 4.1% for the Diabetic No-Tone animals. 5-HT caused significantly greater constriction of A1 arterioles in Diabetic-Tone animals (-40 +/- 6%) than in either the Control (-19 +/- 6%) or Diabetic No-Tone (-18 +/- 5%) animals. 5-HT dilated the A3 arterioles to a similar degree in both the Diabetic-Tone and Control groups, but the Diabetic No-Tone group did not dilate to 5-HT because the A3 arterioles in these animals possessed no basal tone. Control animals showed a large 5-HT concentration-dependent increase in leakage of albumin in V3 venules, but this response was inhibited in the Diabetic-Tone animals. The 5-HT-induced leakiness in the Diabetic No-Tone group was intermediate between the other two groups. These results show that large arteriole constriction and small venule permeability responses to 5-HT are altered early in the development of diabetes, and are different in those animals with and without basal arteriolar tone. These data suggest that streptozotocin-induced diabetes alters microvascular function in striated muscle by at least two different cellular mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Center for Applied Microcirculatory Research, University of Louisville, Kentucky.
authors.forename: N L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Alsip
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Schuschke
authors.forename: W B
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Wead
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Harris
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002199:Capillary Permeability / Q000187:drug effects; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003925:Diabetic Angiopathies / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008833:Microcirculation / Q000187:drug effects*; D009132:Muscles / Q000098:blood supply; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012701:Serotonin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014661:Vasoconstriction / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D012701:Serotonin