Myogenic response of rat femoral small arteries in relation to wall structure and [Ca2+]i

Abstract

The present study investigated the influence of media thickness on myogenic tone and intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) in rat skeletal muscle small arteries. A ligature was loosely tied around one external iliac artery of 5-wk-old spontaneously hypertensive rats. At 18 wk of age, femoral artery blood pressure was 102 ± 11 mmHg ( n = 15) on the ligated side and 164 ± 6 mmHg ( n = 15) on the contralateral side. Small arteries feeding the gracilis muscle had a reduced media cross-sectional area and a reduced media-to-lumen ratio on the ligated side, where also the range of myogenic constriction was shifted to lower pressures. However, when expressed as a function of wall stress, diameter responses were nearly identical. [Ca2+]i was higher in vessels from the ligated hindlimb at pressures above 10 mmHg, but vasoconstriction was not accompanied by changes in [Ca2+]i. Thus the myogenic constriction here seems due primarily to changes in intracellular calcium sensitivity, which are determined mainly by the force per cross-sectional area of the wall and therefore altered by changes in vascular structure.