Diminished contractile responses to neuropeptide Y of arteries from diabetic rabbits

The vascular smooth muscle contractile response to neuropeptide Y (NPY), potassium, noradrenaline, histamine and serotonin was studied in circular segments of isolated vessels in vitro from rabbits with alloxan-induced diabetes mellitus. The injection of alloxan resulted in a marked and maintained increase in serum glucose as early as 1 week after treatment. Four vessel types were examined: abdominal aorta, and renal, left anterior descending coronary and middle cerebral arteries. There was no difference in the contractile response to histamine or serotonin between control and diabetic vessels. However, in the cerebral artery the contractile response to noradrenaline was reduced in the diabetic group, while in the aorta and the renal artery no significant differences were seen. Noradrenaline failed to evoke any contractile response in the coronary arteries in either group. NPY induced strong, concentration-dependent contractions of coronary and cerebral arteries, but did not have any contractile effect per se in aorta or renal arteries, either in control or in alloxan-treated rabbits. The maximal contractile effect and the sensitivity to NPY was significantly less in diabetic coronary and cerebral vessels as compared to control. There was no difference in dilator effect of acetylcholine and substance P between the diabetic animals and the control group in any of the vessel types, indicating that the changed vascular responses to NPY and noradrenaline were not endothelium-dependent. In conclusion, the present study has shown that the postjunctional effects of NPY and noradrenaline in the peripheral sympathetic nervous system are selectively attenuated in this model of chronic diabetes.