A rate-sensitive component to the myogenic response is absent from bat wing arterioles

The responses of three sequential branching orders of arterioles in the bat wing to rapid and slow changes in transmural pressure were studied. Arterial and venous pressures to the wing were elevated simultaneously by pressurizing a box containing the body of the animal, while the wing was exposed to atmospheric pressure. Box pressure was elevated from 0 to +48 mmHg at two rates: 24 and 0.6 mmHg/s. During this time, continuous recordings of hydrostatic pressure and diameter were made in single arterioles using intravital microscopic techniques. Second-order arterioles and arcuate arterioles from skin and skeletal muscle constricted in response to elevated transmural pressure but did not show an enhanced response to rapid pressure changes. There was a trend for terminal arterioles to show a transient peak constriction during rapid stretch, but this response was always associated with a biphasic change in arteriolar pressure. These results suggest that the transient arteriolar resistance changes associated with rapid transmural pressure increases in previous experiments may be primarily a result of transient pressure changes in small arterioles. We find no evidence that arterioles in this preparation exhibit a rate-sensitive component to their myogenic response.