Vascular hyper-reactivity following arterial balloon injury: distant and delayed effects.
The adverse functional effects of balloon angioplasty include simple procedure failure, compromise of vessel lumen (rupture), and restenosis. A much less well-defined repercussion of balloon injury to arteries is a paradoxical alteration in vascular reactivity at an anatomically distant site. The paper by Accorsi-Mendonça in the current issue presents new data showing that, following balloon injury to the rat left common carotid artery, there is a delayed hyperreactivity to both phenylephrine and angiotensin II in the contralateral artery. The pharmacological basis of these effects is unknown, although the authors demonstrate that products of cyclooxygenase (COX) 1 or 2 are responsible for the hyperreactivity to angiotensin II and phenylephrine, respectively. The absence of delayed hyperreactivity to these agents in the aorta of injured rats would suggest that a humoral factor is not involved.
Wilson
Andrew J
AJ
Centre for Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Department of Medicine, The Rayne Building, University College London, 5 University Street, London, WC1E 6JJ. andrew.wilson@ucl.ac.uk
D000800:Angioplasty, Balloon / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000818:Animals; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D013997:Time Factors; D014652:Vascular Diseases / Q000473:pathology*