Journal article

Prominent contribution of L-type ca 2 channels to cutaneous neurovascular transmission that is revealed after spinal cord injury augments vasoconstriction

HA Dera, MD Habgood, JB Furness, JA Brock

American Journal of Physiology Heart and Circulatory Physiology | AMER PHYSIOLOGICAL SOC | Published : 2012

Abstract

In patients with spinal cord injury (SCI), somatosympathetic reflexes produce exaggerated decreases in skin blood flow below the lesion. This hypoperfusion appears to result from an increased responsiveness of cutaneous arterial vessels to neural activation. Here we investigated the mechanisms that underlie SCI-induced enhancement of neurovascular transmission in a cutaneous vessel, the rat tail artery. Isometric contractions of arterial segments from T11 spinal cord transected and sham-operated rats were compared 6 wk postoperatively. SCI more than doubled the amplitudes of contractions of arteries in response to moderate frequencies of nerve stimulation (0.1 to 1 Hz). In arteries from SCI ..

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University of Melbourne Researchers