Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Medicine and Health Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 5 of 5

Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Microcirculation: Electrophysiological Basis For The Response Of Endothelial Cells To Inflammatory Mediators-Bradykinin, Kai Miao Dec 1994

Microcirculation: Electrophysiological Basis For The Response Of Endothelial Cells To Inflammatory Mediators-Bradykinin, Kai Miao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Using conventional microelectrodes, I studied the electrical basis for determining the resting V$\sb{\rm m}$ in intact EC's from hamsters. The resting V$\sb{\rm m}$ were found to be $-$40 mV for aortic EC's and $-$43 mV for vena caval EC's. The contributions of ions to the resting V$\sb{\rm m}$ of aortic EC's were compared in terms of the transference number (t$\sb{\rm ion}$). To develop a technique for in situ monitoring changes in V$\sb{\rm m}$ of postcapillary venular EC's in the hamster mesentery, a voltage-sensitive fluorescent probe, bisoxonol, was used to load the cells and the fluorescence signals were analyzed under an …


Cytokines And Ovulation In The Mouse Ovary, Jong G. Kim Dec 1994

Cytokines And Ovulation In The Mouse Ovary, Jong G. Kim

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ovulation has been hypothesized as an inflammatory process. Interleukin(IL)-1$\alpha$, IL-1$\beta$ and tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-$\alpha$ are potent cytokines produced from macrophages and various other cell types, and are pivotal components of inflammation. Although previous studies have investigated cytokine activities in the reproductive system, there is little information on their precise localization and activities during the periovulatory period. To investigate the role of cytokines in ovulation, experiments were designed to determine the immunohistochemical localization and time specific production of cytokines IL-1 and TNF-$\alpha$ using a mouse model at 36h, 12h, 6h, 2h before ovulation, and at 6h and 18h after ovulation in …


Denervation Supersensitivity Of The Rat Vas Deferens: A Role For Protein Kinase C, Sonny T. Abraham May 1994

Denervation Supersensitivity Of The Rat Vas Deferens: A Role For Protein Kinase C, Sonny T. Abraham

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A role for protein kinase C (PKC) in the denervation-induced supersensitivity of the rat vas deferens was investigated. Chronic, surgical denervation of the rat vas deferens (up to 8 days) resulted in tissues that produced enhanced contractile responses to norepinephrine (NE) in isolated organ baths. Single challenges of NE (10 $\mu$M) produced 0.6 $\pm$ 0.1 g of maximal tension in the control vas whereas in the paired, denervated tissue 2.2 $\pm$ 0.3 g of tension was recorded (n = 6). Cumulative concentration-effect curves to NE produced in the denervated vas deferens were shifted 18-fold to the left of the control …


Differential Role Of The Endothelium In Regulating Microvascular Blood Flow, Tao Tang May 1994

Differential Role Of The Endothelium In Regulating Microvascular Blood Flow, Tao Tang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The vascular endothelial cell (EC) plays an important role in regulating vascular tone and local blood flow by sensing chemical and mechanical stimuli on the vascular wall and releasing a host of vasoactive substances upon activations of endogenous or exogenous vasoactive substances. The central hypothesis is that local control of blood now and autoregulatory behavior in the microcirculation is distinctive at different levels of the vasculature and is dependent on the cellular activities of the EC and its interaction with the local environment. The in vivo as well as the ex vivo, flow-controlled preparations of the hamster cheek pouch were …


Characterization Of The Vasoactivity Of Tachykinins In Isolated Rat Kidney: Functional Studies And In Vitro Receptor Autoradiography, Yuejin Chen May 1994

Characterization Of The Vasoactivity Of Tachykinins In Isolated Rat Kidney: Functional Studies And In Vitro Receptor Autoradiography, Yuejin Chen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although tachykinins have potent vascular actions, their effect on renal resistance blood vessels is currently unknown. The vasoactive properties of tachykinins and related analogs were assessed in isolated perfused rat kidney. At a basal perfusion pressure (PP) of 75 $\pm$ 6 mm Hg (n = 5), bolus injections of substance P (SP) had no significant vasoactive effect. Following a sustained increase in baseline PP (134 $\pm$ 10 mm Hg) produced by phenylephrine (1 $\mu$M), SP evoked a dose-dependent increase in PP. The largest dose of SP increased PP by 60 $\pm$ 5 mm Hg. The vasoconstrictor response to SP was …