Effects of hypercholesterolemia on the electrical and contractile properties of the blood vessel wall

: The investigations were performed on the ring strips of rabbit aorta. The electrical activity of the vessels smooth muscle cells was registered by the "sucrose gap" method; the contractile activity of the strips was determined simultaneously. Experimental atherosclerosis was induced by keeping rabbits on a special diet enriched by cholesterol for 2 and 4 months. Strips were prepared with intact or mechanically removed endothelium. Hypercholesterolemia was shown to inhibit the reactivity of the vessel's wall to the weakening action of acetylcholine due to endothelial stimulation. The cause of these changes was the inhibition of the endothelial functional activity and inactivation of mechanisms by which endothelium influences smooth muscle cells.