Substances that rapidly augment ionic conductance of endothelium in cerebral venules

Classical techniques for studying modulations of microvascular permeability have a time resolution of minutes. A newly developed method allows continuous measurement of the electrical resistance of the microvascular membrane in vivo (Olesen & Crone 1983). The technique exploits microelectrodes impaled into the vascular lumen and is based on cable analysis of the vessel. It was applied to venules on the surface of the frog brain to test the effect on microvascular permeability of a wide variety of substances. The following agents increased ionic permeability reversibly within seconds: 5-hydroxytryptamine, bradykinin, ATP, ADP, AMP, phospholipase A2, arachidonic acid, leukotriene C4, oxygen-derived free radicals, ionophore A23187, and unbound Evans blue dye. An irreversible permeability increase was induced by protamine sulphate, neuraminidase, trypsin, melittin, and snake venoms from Crotalus durissus terrificus and Bothrops atrox. The following substances were without effect within an administration period of 5 min: histamine, epinephrine, putrescine, angiotensin II, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), substance P, neurotensin, vasopressin, adenosine, PGE2, PGF2 alpha, prostacyclin (PGI2), leukotriene B4, albumin, heparin, plant cytokinins, hyaluronidase, thrombin, wasp venom. Variations in pH between 5.1 and 8.6 did not change permeability. Three conclusions are drawn from the observations: (1) the permeability of cerebral microvessels can be modulated by specific agents, (2) the agents induced changes in the endothelium within a few seconds, and (3) the rapid permeability increase induced by inflammatory mediators was less than two-fold and reversible within minutes.