Resistance Artery Adaptation to Pregnancy Counteracts the Vasoconstricting Influence of Plasma From Normal Pregnant Women

• Published in: Reproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) Calif.), 2010-01, Vol.17 (1), p.29-39
• Main Authors: Amburgey, Ödül A., Reeves, Shane A., Bernstein, Ira M., Cipolla, Marilyn J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptation, Physiological - physiology; Adult; Analysis of Variance; Angiography; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Blood Pressure - drug effects; Blood Pressure - physiology; Blood Transfusion; Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors - pharmacology; Embryology; Endothelium, Vascular - drug effects; Endothelium, Vascular - physiology; Enzyme Inhibitors - pharmacology; Female; Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics; Humans; Indomethacin - pharmacology; Medical sciences; Medicine & Public Health; Mesenteric Arteries - drug effects; Mesenteric Arteries - physiology; Muscle Contraction - drug effects; Muscle Contraction - physiology; Nitroarginine - pharmacology; Obstetrics/Perinatology/Midwifery; Original Article; Posterior Cerebral Artery - drug effects; Posterior Cerebral Artery - physiology; Pregnancy; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Reproductive Medicine; Vascular Resistance - drug effects; Vascular Resistance - physiology; Vasoconstriction - drug effects; Vasoconstriction - physiology
• ISSN: 1933-7191; 1933-7205
• DOI: 10.1177/1933719109345288

Using a rat model, we investigated the effects of circulating factors in pregnancy on cerebrovascular and systemic vascular function by comparing myogenic reactivity, tone, and endothelial vasodilator production of the posterior cerebral artery (PCA) and mesenteric artery (MA) of nonpregnant (NP) animals perfused with nonpregnant and pregnant human plasma. Arteries from late pregnant (LP) animals were then perfused similarly to evaluate a potential adaptive effect of pregnancy on vessel function. A 3-hour exposure to pregnant plasma caused increased myogenic reactivity and tone in vessels from NP animals and produced a decreased endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor response in NP PCAs, findings that were not seen with MAs. The increased reactivity and tone noted in NP vessels was abolished when pregnant plasma was perfused through LP arteries, suggesting these vessels adapt during pregnancy to the vasoconstricting influence of pregnant plasma.