Altered responsiveness of coronary arteries in hyperthyroid rats

The effect of thyroid hormones on vascular responses to various agents was examined in the coronary vascular bed perfused by the Langendorff's method at a fixed flow rate with Krebs-Henseleit solution in isolated rat hearts. In this study, ventricular fibrillation was induced by electrical stimulation to avoid secondary influences derived from alteration of ventricular contractility by agents. Vasodilator responses of coronary arteries to isoproterenol and methacholine were significantly enhanced in hyperthyroid preparations compared with those observed in euthyroid ones, though vasodilator responses to histamine and adenosine were not affected by hyperthyroidism. Vasoconstrictor response to 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) was significantly potentiated by hyperthyroidism though that to balium chloride was not affected. So, these alterations in vascular responses by hyperthyroidism are assumed not to be nonspecific but to be mediator-specific events. As vasoconstriction in coronary arteries lowers oxygen supply to myocardium, enhanced vasoconstrictivity of coronary arteries to 5-HT by hyperthyroidism may be responsible for an exacerbation of heart disease in the case of patients having agglutinative thrombus, which should be a source of 5-HT, in their coronary arteries.