An in vitro Study of the Pharmacological Responses of Rat Middle Cerebral Artery: Effects of Overnight Storage

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Abstract
This study was designed to establish the in vitro pharmacological responses of rat middle cerebral arteries (MCA), and also their susceptibility to overnight cold storage at 4°C. MCAs were harvested from rats and pharmacological responses were studied using a Mulvany myograph. Responses to prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α), uridine triphosphate (UTP), noradrenaline (NA) and histamine were determined to investigate receptor-dependent responses, sodium nitroprusside and papaverine to investigate receptor-independent relaxation and L-arginine and Nω-Nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) to examine nitric oxide synthase-dependent responses. Responses in fresh arteries were established and compared with responses in arteries which had been mounted on a myograph and stored overnight at 4°C before study the next day. The MCAs had an effective lumen diameter of 263 µm (SD 25) and sustained concentration-dependent contractions were produced by 124 mM K+, PGF2α, UTP and L-NAME. Sodium nitroprusside, NA, histamine, papaverine and L-arginine produced concentration-dependent relaxations in precontracted arteries. Overnight cold storage did not alter the pharmacological responses to any of the agonists tested.

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