Catechol Amines in the Vascular Wall

Abstract

Summary. 1. Bovine splenic arteries and veins contain about 0.3—0.4 μg noradrenaline per g indicating that also the veins have an important supply of adrenergic vasomotor nerves. 2. Bovine pulmonary vessels with a diameter of 2 mm and above (“large vessels”) contain similar amounts of catechol amines as the splenic vessels; lung vessels and other vessels from dog show even higher figures. 3. “Large” bovine lung vessels contain some 10 times more noradrenaline than peripheral lung tissue. This implies that while the larger pulmonary vessels are amply supplied with adrenergic‐vasomotor fibres, the small lung vessels are poorly innervated with adrenergic vasomotor fibres. 4. Chromatographic separation of catechol substances in splenic and pulmonary vessels has indicated the presence of dihydroxyphenyl acetic acid, dihydroxymandelic acid, dopamine and noradrenaline in amounts which are similar for the two kinds of vessels but differ greatly from the relative and absolute amounts found in lung tissue.