Circulating neuropeptide Y does not produce pulmonary hypertension during massive sympathetic activation.

We tested the possibility that neuropeptide Y (NPY) may contribute to the pulmonary hypertension that occurs after massive sympathetic activation produced by intracisternal veratrine administration in the chloralose-anesthetized dog. In six dogs, veratrine caused arterial NPY-like immunoreactivity (NPY-LI) to rise from 873 +/- 150 (SE) pg/ml to peak values of 3,780 +/- 666 pg/ml by 60-120 min. (In 3 animals, adrenalectomy significantly reduced the increases in NPY-LI.) In five additional dogs, we infused porcine NPY for 30 min in doses that increased arterial NPY-LI to 8,354 +/- 1,514 pg/ml and observed only minor changes in pulmonary hemodynamics. In three isolated perfused canine left lower lung lobe (LLL) preparations, increasing doses of NPY were administered, producing levels of plasma NPY-LI, at the highest dose, that exceeded those observed after veratrine administration by three orders of magnitude. No changes in LLL arterial or double-occlusion capillary pressures were observed at any dose. Similarly, no changes in LLL hemodynamics were observed in three additional lobes when NPY was administered while norepinephrine was being infused. We conclude that it is unlikely that NPY plays a role as a circulating vasoactive agent in producing the pulmonary hypertension and edema that occur in this model.