Todiras Mihail, Alenina Natalia, Bader Michael
Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Robert Rössle Str. 10, 13125, Berlin, Germany.
Methods Mol Biol. 2017;1527:355-367. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-6625-7_28.
Vascular endothelial cells play a major role in maintaining cardiovascular homeostasis. Impairment of physiological properties of the endothelium, such as the promotion of vasodilation and anti-aggregation, leads to a condition called endothelial dysfunction. Endothelial dysfunction is an important early event in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and has been shown to have prognostic value in predicting vascular events including stroke and myocardial infarction.Endothelial-dependent vasodilation is one of the most widely used methods for assessment of endothelial function in rodents. It includes pharmacological stimulation (for example by acetylcholine) of endothelial release of NO and other vasoactive compounds in comparison with vascular response to endothelium-independent dilators such as sodium nitroprusside. However, usually this technique is performed in anesthetized animals. Here we describe a method which allows evaluation of endothelial dysfunction in conscious, freely moving mice and rats.
血管内皮细胞在维持心血管稳态中起主要作用。内皮生理特性的损害，如促进血管舒张和抗聚集功能受损，会导致一种称为内皮功能障碍的病症。内皮功能障碍是动脉粥样硬化发病机制中的一个重要早期事件，并且已被证明在预测包括中风和心肌梗死在内的血管事件方面具有预后价值。内皮依赖性血管舒张是评估啮齿动物内皮功能最广泛使用的方法之一。它包括通过药理学刺激（例如通过乙酰胆碱）使内皮释放一氧化氮和其他血管活性化合物，并与血管对诸如硝普钠等不依赖内皮的扩张剂的反应进行比较。然而，通常这种技术是在麻醉动物身上进行的。在这里，我们描述了一种能够在清醒、自由活动的小鼠和大鼠中评估内皮功能障碍的方法。
