Cholesterol, but not cigarette smoke, decreases rabbit carotid artery relaxation. Ann Vasc Surg 1999 Sep;13(5):480-3
Date
08/31/1999Pubmed ID
10466991DOI
10.1007/s100169900287Scopus ID
2-s2.0-0032848707 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 6 CitationsAbstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the physiologic effects of cigarette smoke exposure and dietary cholesterol on the availability of nitric oxide in carotid vascular rings. New Zealand white rabbits were placed in an airflow chamber for 3 hr/day over an 8-week period and were exposed to smoke from 600 cigarettes/per day added to the chamber inflow by a robotic smoke generator. New Zealand white rabbits, made hypercholesterolemic, and one group fed a normal diet, were similarly placed in the chamber without exposure to cigarette smoke. In those exposed groups, serum cotinine and cholesterol levels were consistently elevated. After the 8-week period, the carotid arteries were harvested. The vessels were cut into 3-mm rings which were suspended from pressure transducers. The rings were contracted with potassium chloride (KCl) to determine vessel integrity. One ring from each carotid was maximally contracted with 1 x 10(-3) molar norepinephrine (NE) while the experimental ring was contracted to 50% of maximum. Relaxation of the rings was achieved by adding incremental doses of acetylcholine. Our results showed that endothelial dysfunction, as measured by acetylcholine-mediated vasorelaxation, occurs in the rabbit carotid artery when exposed to high dietary cholesterol. Cigarette exposure alone in this particular vessel did not result in significant alteration in acetylcholine-mediated vasorelaxation.
Author List
Johnson D, Freischlag JA, Coe DA, Mudaliar JH, Traul DK, Kelly H, Hanson L, Cambria RA, Seabrook GR, Towne JBMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AcetylcholineAnalysis of Variance
Animals
Carotid Arteries
Cholesterol
Cholesterol, Dietary
Cotinine
Endothelium, Vascular
Hypercholesterolemia
Male
Nitric Oxide
Norepinephrine
Plants, Toxic
Potassium Chloride
Rabbits
Smoke
Smoking
Transducers, Pressure
Vasoconstrictor Agents
Vasodilation
Vasodilator Agents
