Impaired arterial reactivity following cytomegalovirus infection in the immunosuppressed rat

1 Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a major pathogen in immunocompromised individuals and may participate in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis in the general population. We evaluated whether CMV‐infection alters the function of arterial smooth muscle. 2 Blood pressure (BP) and arterial reactivity were recorded in immunosuppressed rats that had been infected with CMV (105 plaque forming units i.p.). Furthermore, the reactivity of isolated arteries was compared between CMV‐infected rats and rats injected with bacterial endotoxin (LPS). 3 Initially resting BP and heart rate (HR) were not modified in CMV‐infected rats, but baroreflex control of HR was impaired. By the eighth day post‐CMV, BP dropped precipitously and could no longer be raised by phenylephrine (PHE). 4 In mesenteric resistance arteries, isolated at this stage from CMV‐infected rats, contractile responses to nerve stimulation, noradrenaline, PHE and 5‐hydroxytryptamine (5‐HT) were virtually absent while those to high potassium and vasopressin (AVP) were not modified. In aortae of CMV‐infected rats, responses to 5‐HT and AVP were impaired while those to PHE or potassium were hardly affected. Reduced contractile responses could not be restored by NG‐nitro‐L‐arginine methyl ester (L‐NAME). 5 Continuous treatment of CMV‐infected rats with prazosin (0.1 mg kg−1 day−1) prevented blood pressure lowering and resistance artery changes. 6 Observations in arteries of LPS‐treated rats (5–10 mg kg−1, i.p.) differed markedly from those in vessels of CMV‐infected animals. The contractile reactivity of their mesenteric resistance arteries was not altered while in their aortae, responses to PHE, 5‐HT and AVP were reduced. With the exception of the AVP responses, this was more pronounced in the presence of L‐arginine and reversed by L‐NAME. 7 These findings indicate that CMV‐infection results in a reduction of resistance artery reactivity and hypotonia. This seems not to involve cytokine‐mediated induction of NO synthase in the vascular wall but may be due to alterations of excitation‐contraction coupling in arterial smooth muscle in response to increased sympathetic nervous input.