A new technique for studying the uterine microvasculature in the rat.

OBJECTIVE

Our purpose was to develop a method for direct measurement of rat uterine microvessels and to test their viability.

STUDY DESIGN

In anesthetized female Sprague-Dawley diestrus rats, one uterine hom was isolated from the body cavity with its nerve and blood supply intact. A small fiberoptic probe inserted into the lumen of the uterus served as a light source for transillumination of uterine vessels. Diameters of circumferential arterioles were observed while increasing concentrations of vasoactive agonists were suffused over the uterus.

RESULTS

No significant diameter changes occurred in circumferential arterioles of the control group (100-minute suffusion of Krebs solution). Dilation with papaverine (100 mumol/L) demonstrated that vessels possessed basal tone. Circumferential arterioles showed concentration-dependent constriction to phenylephrine and angiotensin II and dilation to acetylcholine and serotonin.

CONCLUSIONS

This uterine microcirculatory preparation provides a stable, reproducible model of a unique microcirculatory bed that responds to vasoactive agents in a manner similar to other microcirculatory beds.