High-cholesterol diet induces altered responsiveness of rabbit arterial smooth muscle to noradrenaline

The potential effect of feeding a high-cholesterol atherogenic diet (HCD) on in vitro responsiveness of rabbit arterial smooth muscle was investigated. The vasoconstrictor response produced by either exogenous or endogenous (field stimulation) noradrenaline was significantly depressed in isolated segments of ear artery after HCD as compared to regular diet fed animals. On the other hand no changes to high K+ could be observed in arterial segments after HCD as compared to regular diet fed rabbits. In addition, the alpha-adrenoceptor-mediated inotropic response and contraction of bladder smooth muscle showed only minor or no changes after HCD as compared to regular diet fed rabbits.