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Attenuation of contractile responses to sympathetic co-transmitters in veins from subjects with essential hypertension

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Abstract

Neuropeptide Y (NPY), noradrenaline (NA) and ATP are cotransmitters of the sympathetic nervous system and exert vasocontractile effects. The aim of this study was to determine the role of these sympathetic co-transmitters in human hypertension. Subcutaneous vessels from 12 patients with essential hypertention and 12 matched controls were studiedin vitro. Vascular contractile responses to NPY, NA, α,β-methylene ATP (α,β-mATP) and potassium were studied in isolated arteries and veins (diameter 0.1–1.1 mm) with intact endothelium. The dilatory effect of acetylcholine was used to test the endothelial function. There was no difference in potency (pD2) or contractile response to NPY, NA or α,β-mATP between hypertensive and control arteries. In veins, however, the contractile response to NPY was signficantly reduced in hypertensives and the responses to NA were unchanged. Furthermore, the sensitivity (pD2) to α,β-mATP was significantly reduced in veins from hypertensives. There was no difference in the dilatory response to acetylcholine between the hypertensives and the controls, neither in the arteries nor in the veins, indicating that the observed changes in vascular reactivity to NPY, NA and α,β-mATP were not endothelium-dependent. In conclusion, the postjunctional contractile effect of NPY and sensitivity (pD2) to α,β-mATP, co-transmitters of the peripheral sympathetic nervous system, are attenuated in veins in essential hypertension.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Experimental Vascular Research Department of Internal Medicine, Lund University, Sweden

    H. Lind MD PhD, D. Erlinge MD PhD & L. Edvinsson MD PhD

  2. Department of Surgery, Malmö General Hospital, Sweden

    J. Brunkwall MD PhD

  3. Health Sciences Centre, Lund University, Helgeandsg. 16, S-223, 54 Lund, Sweden

    H. Lind MD PhD

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  4. L. Edvinsson MD PhD
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Lind, H., Erlinge, D., Brunkwall, J. et al. Attenuation of contractile responses to sympathetic co-transmitters in veins from subjects with essential hypertension. Clinical Autonomic Research 7, 69–76 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02267749

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