Arterial pressure, cardiac output and exercise hyperemia in chemically sympathectomized rats

This study showed that arterial blood pressure of chemically sympathectomized rats (SR) was decreased, whereas heart rate was increased relative to controls. The cardiac output in SR was higher than that in intact animals (by 36% under urethane anaesthesia and by 80% without anaesthesia). The total peripheral resistance of SR was 1.7 times less than normal, although the magnitude of the structural component of resistance was increased. The half-time clearance of 133Xe from skeletal muscle during motor nerve stimulation was greater in SR than in intact rats by a factor of 2. It is concluded that the number of small resistance vessels in SR is low, while the lumen of individual vessels is greater than in controls, thus giving rise to an insufficient "vasodilator reserve".