Role of wall tension in hypoxic responses of isolated rat pulmonary arteries

The changes in force developed during 40-min exposures to hypoxia (37 +/- 1 mmHg) were recorded in large (0.84 +/- 0.02-mm-diameter) and small (0.39 +/- 0.01-mm-diameter) intrapulmonary arteries during combinations of mechanical wall stretch tensions (passive + active myogenic components), equivalent to transmural vascular pressures of 5, 15, 30, 50, and 100 mmHg, and active (vasoconstriction) tensions, stimulated by PGF2alpha in doses of 0, 25, 50, and 75% effective concentrations. Constriction was observed in all arteries during the first minute; however, at any active tension, the pattern of the subsequent response was a function of the stretch tension. At 5, 15, and 30 mmHg, the constriction decreased slightly at 5 min and then increased again to remain constrictor throughout. At 50 and 100 mmHg, the initial constriction was followed by persistent dilation. Hypoxic constrictor responses, most resembling those observed in lungs in vivo and in vitro, were observed when the mechanical stretch wall tension was equivalent to 15 or 30 mmHg and the dose of PGF2alpha was 25 or 50% effective concentration. These observations reconcile many apparently contradictory results reported previously.