title: Changes in vascular responsiveness following chronic exposure to cold in the rat.
abstract: The responsiveness of smooth muscle from rings of aortic tissue of cold-acclimated (CA, 6 degrees C, 5-15 wk) rats to both alpha- and beta-adrenergic agonists and KCl was tested and compared with that of warm-adapted (25 degrees C) controls. alpha-Adrenergic stimulation, induced by low doses (10(-8)-10(-7) M) of phenylephrine and norepinephrine in the presence and absence of the beta-adrenergic antagonist, propranolol, resulted in the development of less active tension by aortic smooth muscle from CA rats than from controls. Similar results were observed with the weakly alpha 1-adrenergic agonistic activities of tyramine, clonidine, and high concentrations of isoproterenol (10(-6)-10(-4) M). There was also a significant reduction in the tension developed by smooth muscles of the aortas from CA rats when depolarized with KCl in concentrations ranging from 8 to 20 mM. In contrast, aortic smooth muscle, contracted to 75% of maximum with KCl, showed an enhanced relaxation to the beta-adrenergic agonist, isoproterenol, in CA rats. These studies suggest that acclimation of rats to cold results in both a decrease in alpha-adrenergic responsiveness and an increase in beta-adrenergic responsiveness in vascular smooth muscle as well as a change in the biochemical events that couple activation of adrenergic receptors to changes in vasomotor tone.
mesh_terms: D000064:Acclimatization; D000818:Animals; D001011:Aorta / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D003080:Cold Temperature; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D008297:Male; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000187:drug effects; D009130:Muscle, Smooth / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D011189:Potassium Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D011189:Potassium Chloride