ABSTRACT
Abnormalities in vascular reactivity have been implicated as potential contributors to cardiovascular complications of diabetes mellitus. Very little attention has been paid to the possibility that there could be gender differences in the effect of STZ-induced diabetes on vascular reactivity. The effects of diabetes induced by streptozotocin (STZ) on the reactivity of various parts of the mesenteric vascular bed, from the largest artery, the superior mesenteric artery, through third-order mesenteric artery branches to the whole perfused mesenteric bed, have been investigated. A very limited number of studies of vascular reactivity have been performed in the perfused rat hindquarters, a skeletal muscle vascular bed. Cyclic GMP is believed to be responsible for mediating the relaxant responses of vascular smooth muscle to endothelial NO released tonically in the absence of vasodilators, and in response to receptor stimulation. The foregoing discussion makes it abundantly clear that many questions about the vascular consequences of STZ-induced diabetes remain unanswered.
