Quantitation of rhythmic diameter changes in arterial microcirculation.

The diameter of the arterial and arteriolar blood vessels was measured as a function of time in the hamster skin fold window preparation. When the animals recovered from the surgical implantation, the diameters of the arterial microvessels exhibited a continuous rhythmic activity throughout the preparation for a period of 2 wk while the chamber was intact. The amplitude of the diameter changes was directly proportional to the mean vessel size. The frequency of this phenomenon was determined by power spectrum analysis implemented with a Fourier transform method and was found to decrease from a maximum of 9-15 cycles/min in 8- to 15-micron A4 arterioles to 1-3 cycles/min in 70- to 100-micron A1 small arteries. A1 and A4 vessels had relatively well-defined characteristic fundamental frequencies, whereas A2 and A3 vessels showed a power spectrum that included the frequencies present in A1 and A4 vessels. The activity was not synchronized throughout the microvasculature, and frequencies and amplitudes of diameter variations changed at branching points. Anesthesia induced by the intravenous injections of pentobarbital and chloralose-urethan invariably stopped this activity throughout the preparation. The distribution of this time-dependent activity and the nature of the effect of the anesthetics suggests that this phenomenon is due to local pacemaker activity of groups of unitary smooth muscle cells.