Adrenergic control of vascular resistance varies in muscles composed of different fiber types: influence of the vascular endothelium

Abstract

The influence of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) upon vascular resistance is more profound in muscles comprised predominately of low-oxidative type IIB vs. high-oxidative type I fiber types. However, within muscles containing high-oxidative type IIA and IIX fibers, the role of the SNS on vasomotor tone is not well established. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of sympathetic neural vasoconstrictor tone in muscles composed of different fiber types. In adult male rats, blood flow to the red and white portions of the gastrocnemius (GastRed and GastWhite, respectively) and the soleus muscle was measured pre- and postdenervation. Resistance arterioles from these muscles were removed, and dose responses to α1-phenylephrine or α2-clonidine adrenoreceptor agonists were determined with and without the vascular endothelium. Denervation resulted in a 2.7-fold increase in blood flow to the soleus and GastRed and an 8.7-fold increase in flow to the GastWhite. In isolated arterioles, α2-mediated vasoconstriction was greatest in GastWhite (∼50%) and less in GastRed (∼31%) and soleus (∼17%); differences among arterioles were abolished with the removal of the endothelium. There was greater sensitivity to α1-mediated vasoconstriction in the GastWhite and GastRed vs. the soleus, which was independent of whether the endothelium was present. These data indicate that 1) control of vascular resistance by the SNS in high-oxidative, fast-twitch muscle is intermediate to that of low-oxidative, fast-twitch and high-oxidative, slow-twitch muscles; and 2) the ability of the SNS to control blood flow to low-oxidative type IIB muscle appears to be mediated through postsynaptic α1- and α2-adrenoreceptors on the vascular smooth muscle.