INCREASED RESPONSIVENESS OF INTESTINAL AND VASCULAR SMOOTH-MUSCLE TO AGONISTS IN RATS INFECTED WITH NIPPOSTRONGYLUS-BRASILIENSIS

  • 1 January 1983
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 263  (2) , 217-227
Abstract
Rats were infected with the nematode parasite N. brasiliensis. During infection, the responsiveness of intestinal and vascular smooth muscle to agonists changed. The maximum response of isolated segments of intestine to acetylcholine were increased. This enhanced responsiveness was due to hypertrophy of intestinal smooth muscle. There was an almost 2-fold increase in the tension developed per unit of cross-sectional area, indicating that the contractile capacity of the muscle was also increased during infection. The responsiveness of vascular smooth muscle to agonists was also enhanced. In the perfused rat hindquarters, the maximum response to phenylephrine increased throughout infection, reaching a peak at a time (day 14 of infection) when the rate of worm expulsion was maximal. These changes in the responsiveness of intestinal and vascular smooth muscle may be the result of an immune response.

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