Arteriolar responses to elevation of venous and arterial pressures in cat mesentery

These studies were undertaken to determine the importance of metabolic (flow-dependent) and myogenic (pressure-dependent) factors in the response of arterioles to changes in intravascular pressure. The response of 26 arterioles in the isolated cat mesentery to increased venous and arterial pressure was studied by measuring changes of arteriolar diameter, red blood cell velocity, and intravascular pressure. Circumferential wall tension and volume flow in the arterioles were calculated. The fraction of the arteriolar responses to intravascular pressure elevation that could be attributed only to a myogenic response in which wall tension is regulated varied from 20 to 56%, depending on the method of pressure elevation. The largest fraction of the response attributable to a myogenic mechanism (ignoring the contributions of flow) varied from 50 to 93%. The fraction of the responses attributable only to flow dependency varied from 0 to 23%, whereas the largest fraction attributable to this mechanism varied from 18 to 73%, depending on the method of pressure elevation. It is concluded that, in cat mesentery, both metabolic and myogenic mechanisms appear to contribute to local regulation of flow with elevation of intravascular pressure, but other factors cannot be excluded.