Cadmium-Induced Arteriolar Constriction in Skeletal Muscle Microcirculation

Cadmium, an environmental pollutant, is known to induce hypertension in animal models, in part via an increase in peripheral vascular resistance. Since prior studies have investigated the vascular effects of cadmium using large, nonresistance arteries, we directly assessed cadmium's action on resistance size arterioles in skeletal muscle using the intact rat cremaster muscle preparation. Cadmium evoked a concentration-dependent constriction of the large arterioles (120 to 50 μm in diameter) but elicited no change in the diameter of smaller arterioles (30 to 15 μm)