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We tested the hypothesis that conduction of vasomotor responses occurs in cannulated and isolated rat cerebral penetrating arterioles. Both at the site of stimulation (local) and 500-650 microns distant from it, we observed the diameter responses and time courses thereof to pressure-ejected vasoactive stimuli. ATP locally caused an initial constriction (response onset at 0.3 s, average diameter 85% of control at 450-ms pulse with a maximum at 1.6 s after stimulation) followed by a secondary dilation (111% at 7 s). Conducted vasodilation of 111% was observed over a distance of 520 microns. Prostaglandin F2 alpha (PGF2 alpha) constricted the vessels locally (80%) and caused conducted vasodilation (110%). For both ATP and PGF2 alpha the local constriction occurred simultaneously to the conducted vasodilation. Adenosine dilated the vessels (123%) but produced only inconsistent conducted vasodilation. Hydrogen ions initially constricted the vessels (88%) and then dilated them to 113%. Thus, although ATP and PGF2 alpha are strong promoters of conduction, adenosine and hydrogen ions are not. Paradoxically, ATP and PGF2 alpha caused conducted vasodilation even though the initial local response was a vasoconstriction, indicating that in cerebral arterioles conduction may be mediated through endothelial cell mechanisms rather than through smooth muscle cell communication.

Local regulation of microvascular blood flow is a complex process in which the needs of the tissue must be communicated to the vasculature, enabling the appropriate matching of O2 supply to demand. We hypothesize that the red blood cell is not only the major O2 carrier but also serves as an O2 sensor and affecter of changes in O2 delivery via its release of ATP, which subsequently binds to P2y receptors on the vascular endothelium, altering vessel caliber. Using the hamster as a model, we determined that the efflux of ATP from red blood cells after exposure to low-PO2 (PO2 = 17 +/- 6 mmHg) and low-pH (pH = 7.06 +/- 0.07) solutions was significantly (P < 0.01) greater than that after exposure to normoxic, normal pH (PO2 = 87 +/- 4; pH = 7.38 +/- 0.04) solutions, indicating that two factors that are associated with an impaired O2 supply relative to demand increase the release of ATP from the red blood cell. To ascertain whether ATP alters vascular caliber, we applied 10(-6) M ATP intraluminally to arterioles of the retractor muscle, using a micropressure system. Vessel diameter increased 8 and 10%, 140 +/- 60 microns upstream of the site of infusion after 50- and 500-ms pulses, respectively. Application of ATP to arteriolar and venular capillaries induced a 31 and 81% increase in red blood cell supply rate, respectively. These results support our hypothesis that the red blood cell is more than just an O2 carrier and has a direct role in the regulation of vascular tone.

The coupling between intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) and smooth muscle cell (SMC) contractility is well known, but recent reports suggest that SMCs can contract without an increase in [Ca2+]i. Penetrating arterioles were isolated from rat cortex, cannulated, and loaded extraluminally with fura 2. We used ratio imaging of corresponding vessel wall areas to estimate and correlate [Ca2+]i to the vessel diameter during various extraluminal treatments. Control diameter was 45.6 +/- 3.9 (SE) microns with an estimated [Ca2+]i of 181 +/- 18 nM. Extraluminal papaverine or pH of 6.8 dilated the vessels to 61.0 +/- 6.6 and 57.8 +/- 5.8 microns and decreased [Ca2+]i to 108 +/- 33 and 155 +/- 8 nM, respectively. Alkaline pH of 7.65 or the Ca2+ ionophore ionomycin constricted the arterioles to 34.8 +/- 3.9 and 30.0 +/- 5.8 microns and increased [Ca2+]i to 273 +/- 47 and 853 +/- 155 nM, respectively. These results show an inverse relationship between vessel diameter and [Ca2+]i. Blocking the production of endothelium-derived nitric oxide (EDNO) with N omega-nitro-L-arginine constricted the vessels to 34.4 +/- 3.5 microns without raising but lowering [Ca2+]i to 157 +/- 44 nM. The dissociation of vessel tone and estimated [Ca2+]i after EDNO blocking has not been reported before in cerebral arterioles and may indicate that EDNO regulates vascular tone in a Ca(2+)-independent manner.

We have developed a new method for quantification of arteriolar hydraulic conductivity (Lp) from isolated rat brain vessels. The volume flux of water per unit surface area across the arteriole wall (Jv/S) was assessed from measurements of silicon oil drop movement within an occluded vessel at two to three pressures (between 20 and 70 mmHg); the Lp was derived from the slope of the relationship between Jv/S and applied pressure. Lp was measured in isolated cerebral arterioles 1) at room temperature (22 degrees C) without spontaneous vessel tone (control Lp; n = 11), 2) at room temperature with 10(-4) M adenosine (n = 5), and 3) at 37 degrees C with vessels dilated submaximally with 10(-4) M adenosine (n = 6). Lp at 22 degrees C without adenosine was 13.2 +/- 4.2 x 10(-9) (+/- SE) cm.s-1.cmH2O-1 for all vessels studied. Lp values ranged from 1.2 to 44.1 x 10(-9) cm.s-1.cmH2O-1 with a median value that was 5.9 x 10(-9) cm.s-1.cmH2O-1. Lp increased significantly (on average, 2.6-fold) with adenosine at 37 degrees C but not with adenosine at 22 degrees C. Control Lp bore no relationship to either the development of spontaneous tone or the diameter response to pH change, two recognized indicators of vessel viability.