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3.6 IN VITRO EXPERIMENT 1: NORADRENALINE CONTRACTILE RESPONSE
The purpose of the present protocol is to determine the sensitivity of rat mesenteric small arteries to the
vasoconstrictor noradrenaline/norepinephrine with a cumulative concentration-response curve.
3.6.1 BACKGROUND
Noradrenaline (norepinephrine) causes
contraction of mesenteric small arteries
through activation of α-adrenoceptors whereas
noradrenaline activation of β-adrenoceptors
causes vasodilatation. As the purpose is
to determine the contraction sensitivity to
noradrenaline, the vasodilatory effect of
noradrenaline is eliminated throughout the
experiment by the constant presence of the
β-adrenoceptor antagonist, propranolol.
Rat mesenteric arteries are densely innervated
by sympathetic nerves, which have a highly
efficient re-uptake mechanism that removes
noradrenaline from the neuromuscular
junction. The re-uptake mechanism will create
a concentration gradient between the solution
around the vessel segment and the receptors
on the smooth muscle. To correctly determine
the sensitivity to noradrenaline it is necessary
to eliminate this concentration gradient by
performing the experiment in the presence of
cocaine to block the noradrenaline re-uptake.
To determine the sensitivity to noradrenaline
the vessel segment is exposed to increasing
concentrations of noradrenaline. Each
concentration is applied until a steady response
has been reached and then the next concentration
is applied. When the vessel segment is fully
contracted or does not response more upon
increasing the noradrenaline concentration, the
experiment is ended.