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Developmental changes in binding sites and reactivity for CGRP and VIP in porcine pulmonary arteries
A A Hislop1, P J Boels, J Deutsch
1Vascular Biology and Pharmacology Unit, Institute of Child Health, London, United Kingdom. A.Hislop@ich.ucl.ac.uk
Abstract:
During postnatal adaptation pulmonary arteries dilate. CGRP and VIP are pulmonary vasodilators. In this report, porcine lungs from newborn to adult were studied. Radiolabeled ligand binding and autoradiography showed CGRP binding sites on the endothelium of pulmonary arteries and veins, which increased postnatally, and VIP binding sites on smooth muscle, which decreased. Isolated conduit arteries relaxed normally (initially endothelium dependent) in response to CGRP from birth. VIP first caused relaxation at 10 days and was endothelium dependent. Age-related changes in receptor binding density were not always reflected in an appropriate alteration in pharmacological response.