Nitric oxide but not prostacyclin mediates poststenotic dilatation (PSD) in rabbit femoral artery

摘要

The proonounced dilatation of vessels distal of a stenosis is a dramatic response of vessel and vascular cell function to hemodynamic forces. The earliest descriptions of poststenotic dilatation (PSD) date back to 1842 but the mechanisms and mediators of the process are still unknown. Over days to months, degenerative changes in the vessel wall include a decrease in smooth muscle cell number density, elastin content, and an increase in collagen, fenestration of the internal elastic lamina, and enhanced collagenase activity.