A. Carvajal et al., AGE-RELATED-CHANGES IN CONTRACTILE RESPONSES TO NORADRENALINE IN ISOLATED BLOOD-VESSELS FROM RAT AND RABBIT, Journal of autonomic pharmacology, 15(5), 1995, pp. 321-326
1 Age-related changes in vascular function have been studied using rat
(1, 6 and 10 months) and rabbit (1 and 6 months) isolated aorta and r
at (1, 6 and 10 months) mesenteric perfused artery. 2 The EC(50) value
s of noradrenaline in rat aorta increased with age. Similarly, contrac
tile response to noradrenaline (10(-6)M) and potassium (80 mM) increas
ed with age. In rabbit aorta, contractile responses, both for noradren
aline and potassium, decreased with age. No changes were observed with
age in sensitivity to noradrenaline in rat mesenteric perfused artery
. 3 The results of the present study suggest that age-related changes
may be different for different blood vessels. The sensitivity decrease
to noradrenaline in rat aorta involved postreceptor mechanisms.