beta-Adrenergic mechanisms attenuated hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction during systemic hypoxia in cats

In this study, we examined how locally mediated hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction is modulated by autonomic nervous system activation during global alveolar hypoxia (GAH) accompanied by systemic hypoxemia. Using an X-ray television system on the in vivo cat lung, we measured changes in the internal diameter (ID) during GAH and regional alveolar hypoxia (RAH) without systemic hypoxemia in identical small pulmonary arteries and veins (100-600 microns ID). We also analyzed the effects of the autonomic nervous system blockade on the hypoxic ID changes. During GAH the ID of the arteries reduced by 5 +/- 1 and 3 +/- 1% with 10 and 5% O2 inhalations, respectively, whereas during RAH the arterial ID reduced by 12 +/- 1 and 18 +/- 1% with 10 and 5% O2 inhalations, respectively. The magnitude of the ID reduction was significantly smaller during GAH than during RAH. After pretreatment with propranolol, however, GAH induced large ID reductions (16 +/- 1 and 23 +/- 1% with 10 and 5% O2 inhalations) with patterns very similar to those seen during RAH. Phentolamine and atropine had no effect on the response during GAH. The ID reductions during RAH, on the other hand, were unaffected by all the blockers. The results indicate that, in the cat, alveolar hypoxia per se acts locally to constrict the small pulmonary vessels and that the hypoxic vasoconstriction is attenuated by a beta-receptor-mediated vasodilator effect during GAH with systemic hypoxemia. In addition, we found that, after adrenalectomy plus ganglion blockade with hexamethonium bromide, the GAH-induced ID reduction with 5% O2 inhalation was enhanced from 3 to 19%.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)