Effects of noradrenaline on interstitial fluid pressure in induced rat mammary tumours

Interstitial fluid pressure was measured by the wick-in-needle technique in DMBA-induced rat mammary tumours during resting conditions and during noradrenaline infusion. The rate of infusion was chosen to increase the systemic blood pressure by 30-40 mmHg, known to result in a markedly increased vascular resistance of these tumours. During resting conditions tumour interstitial fluid pressure was 10.3 +/- 1.3 mmHg (n = 13) but fell to 7.0 +/- 1.1 mmHg (n = 13) during noradrenaline infusion. The results suggests that noradrenaline is likely to affect the pre-capillary resistance vessels of the tumour vascular bed. This result, together with earlier perfusion studies, indicates that noradrenaline is unsuitable for increasing tumour cell perfusion as an adjunctive in radiation and cytotoxic drug therapy.