Retrograde and oscillatory shear increase across the menopause transition.

Declines in endothelial function can take place rapidly across the menopause transition, placing women at heightened risk for atherosclerosis. Disturbed patterns of conduit artery shear, characterized by greater oscillatory and retrograde shear, are associated with endothelial dysfunction but have yet to be described across menopause. Healthy women, who were not on hormone therapy or contraceptives, were classified into early perimenopausal, late perimenopausal, and early postmenopausal stage.

Evidence for the emergence of leg sympathetic vasoconstrictor tone with age in healthy women.

While muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) is elevated with advancing age, correlational evidence suggests that, in contrast to men, basal MSNA is not related to resting lower limb hemodynamics in women. However, limited data exists in women that have attempted to directly assess the degree of limb sympathetic vasoconstrictor tone, and whether it is altered with age. To address this issue, we measured changes in femoral artery vascular conductance (FVC) during an acute sympatho-inhibitory stimulus (-60 mm Hg neck suction, NS) in groups of healthy younger (n = 8, 23 ± 1 years) and older (n = 7, 66 ± 1 years) women.

Sympatholytic delta-2 opioid receptors moderate ganglionic vasomotor control.

This study tested the hypothesis that enkephalin increases femoral vascular conductance via the delta-2 phenotype of the opioid receptor (DOR-2) within peripheral sympathetic ganglia. Graded pulses of methionine-enkephalin (ME) were administered (0.03-10 μg/kg) into the terminal aorta of anesthetized dogs proximal to lumbar arteries that perfuse vasomotor ganglia regulating femoral blood flow.

Repeated arterial occlusion, delta-opioid receptor (DOR) plasticity and vagal transmission within the sinoatrial node of the anesthetized dog.

Brief interruptions in coronary blood flow precondition the heart, engage delta-opioid receptor (DOR) mechanisms and reduce the damage that typically accompanies subsequent longer coronary occlusions. Repeated short occlusions of the sinoatrial (SA) node artery progressively raised nodal methionine-enkephalin-arginine-phenylalanine (MEAP) and improved vagal transmission during subsequent long occlusions in anesthetized dogs. The DOR type-1 (DOR-1) antagonist, BNTX reversed the vagotonic effect.

Cholinergic location of delta-opioid receptors in canine atria and SA node.

Delta-opioid receptors (DORs) are associated with ischemic preconditioning and vagal transmission in the sinoatrial (SA) node and atria. Although functional studies suggested that DORs are prejunctional on parasympathetic nerve terminals, their precise location remains unconfirmed. DORs were colocalized in tissue slices and synaptosomes from the canine right atrium and SA node along with cholinergic and adrenergic markers, vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT), and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH).

Pyruvate enhances neurological recovery following cardiopulmonary arrest and resuscitation.

Purpose: Cerebral oxidative stress and metabolic dysfunction impede neurological recovery from cardiac arrest-resuscitation. Pyruvate, a potent antioxidant and energy-yielding fuel, has been shown to protect against oxidant- and ischemia-induced neuronal damage. This study tested whether acute pyruvate treatment during cardiopulmonary resuscitation can prevent neurological dysfunction and cerebral injury following cardiac arrest.

Vagotonic effects of enkephalin are not mediated by sympatholytic mechanisms.

This study examined the hypothesis that vagotonic and sympatholytic effects of cardiac enkephalins are independently mediated by different receptors. A dose-response was constructed by administering the delta-receptor opioid methionine-enkephalin-arginine-phenylalanine (MEAP) by microdialysis into the interstitium of the canine sinoatrial node during vagal and sympathetic stimulation. The right cardiac sympathetic nerves were stimulated as they exited the stellate ganglion at frequencies selected to increase heart rate approximately 35 bpm.