Sympathetic Vasoconstriction Is Potentiated in Arteries Caudal but Not Rostral to a Spinal Cord Transection in Rats

Abstract Sympathetic nerve–mediated contractions of mesenteric and tail arteries controlled by preganglionic neurones decentralized by a spinal cord injury (SCI) are potentiated, and likely contribute to autonomic dysreflexia. However, reactivity to the α1-adrenoceptor agonist phenylephrine has been reported to be enhanced in vascular beds controlled by preganglionic neurones lying both rostral and caudal to an SCI in vivo. Here responses of isometrically-mounted median and saphenous arteries isolated from rats 2 and 8 weeks after transection of the T4 spinal cord have been compared with those from sham-operated rats. After SCI, contractions of median arteries to perivascular nerve stimulation, to α-adrenoceptor agonists (phenylephrine and clonidine), to the P2X-purinoceptor agonist α,β-methylene ATP, and to 60 mM K+ were unchanged. Blockade of nerve-evoked contractions by α-adrenoceptor antagonists (prazosin and idazoxan) was not affected by SCI in either the median or saphenous arteries. In contrast, at...