Biol Reprod Email Content Delivery
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow My Folders
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Lanlua, P.
Right arrow Articles by Yallampalli, C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Lanlua, P.
Right arrow Articles by Yallampalli, C.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Lanlua, P.
Right arrow Articles by Yallampalli, C.
Biology of Reproduction 67, 1430-1434 (2002)
© 2002 Society for the Study of Reproduction, Inc.

Regular Article

Effects of Pregnancy and Female Sex Steroid Hormones on Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide Content of Mesenteric Artery in Rats1

P. Lanluaa,b, R.D. Bukoskic,d, S.J. Wimalawansac, and C. Yallampalli2,a,b

a Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology, b Anatomy and Neurosciences, c Internal Medicine, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77555 d Cardiovascular Disease Research Program, Julius L. Chamber's Biomedical Biotechnology Research Institute, North Carolina Central University, Durham, North Carolina 27707

Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) levels in plasma and the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) are increased during pregnancy and in ovariectomized rats injected with ovarian hormones. Vasodilatory responses to CGRP are also increased in these animals. In the present study, we hypothesized that pregnancy and ovarian hormones elevate the contents of CGRP in perivascular nerves. We assessed CGRP-dependent mesenteric vascular relaxation induced by electrical field stimulation (EFS) and arterial content of CGRP. Because the mesenteric artery represents resistance vessels, segments of mesenteric arteries collected from female rats at different stages of the estrous cycle, pregnancy, or postpartum and from male rats were used in this study. The EFS-induced relaxation in the presence and absence of CGRP8–37, an antagonist of CGRP, was used to measure CGRP-dependent relaxation, and radioimmunoassay (RIA) of tissue homogenates was used to assess changes in CGRP content in mesenteric branch arteries. The results show that CGRP-dependent, EFS-induced relaxation response was lower in female rats at diestrus and proestrus than in male rats, and no statistically significant differences were observed between Gestational Day 20 and Postpartum Day 2. The RIA revealed significantly lower mesenteric artery CGRP levels in female rats at proestrus, gestation, and postpartum than in female rats at diestrus or in male rats. We conclude that no correlation exists between CGRP-dependent, EFS-induced relaxation and CGRP content in the mesenteric arteries of these animal groups. Because both CGRP levels in DRG and serum are reported to be elevated, the reduced CGRP content in the vasculature during pregnancy and proestrus implicate enhanced basal release of CGRP at the nerve terminal in these animals.

1 Supported by the following National Heart Blood and Lung Institute Grants: HL-58144 (C.Y.), HL59868 (R.D.B.), and HL 64761 (R.D.B.).

2 Correspondence: Chandrasekhar Yallampalli, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Route 1062, Galveston, TX 77555-1062. FAX: 409 747 0475; chyallam{at}utmb.edu






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2002 by the Society for the Study of Reproduction.