Comparison of conduit vessel and resistance vessel reactivity: influence of intimal permeability

Arterioles of hamster cheek pouches are less reactive to luminal application of small hydrophilic agents than to adventitial application. To explore possible longitudinal variations in response sidedness, we compared reactivity of isolated vessels from carotid arteries to first-order arterioles. Concentration-response curves for luminally or adventitially applied phenylephrine (PE) were constructed. Arterioles were 274-fold less responsive when PE was in luminal vs. adventitial responsiveness decreased as vessel diameters increased, from 24-fold in inferior saccular arteries to 18-fold in external maxillary arteries and, finally, to 3-fold in common carotid arteries. Differences in response to luminal or adventitial application of PE could be eliminated in arterioles by perfusion with 3-[(3-cholamidopropyl)-dimethylammonio]-1-propanesulfonate (CHAPS), which disrupts membrane integrity. Treatment with CHAPS also increased the transmural movement of sodium fluorescein across arteriolar vessel walls. We conclude that a diffusion barrier exists in arterial walls, that there is a longitudinal variation in this barrier as expressed by the differences in movement of small hydrophilic molecules from lumen to smooth muscle cell layers, and that the site of the barrier is likely to be at the endothelial cell membrane.