There are patterns in the distribution of the characteristics of vascular α-adrenoceptors. Sudden changes in their mechanism occur at particular sites along the main branches of the aorta; in some regional vascular beds, but not others, there is a progressive reduction in the response that can be elicited through the α-adrenoceptor; in smaller blood vessels, α- and β-adrenoceptors may be spatially separated in the vessel wall; in most blood vessels, the inner smooth muscle is more sensitive to α-agonists and more dependent on sequestered calcium than the outer. There is little support for a significant physiological role of the proposed γ-rec
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